Bees disappearing and dying

Bees across the nation are disappearing and dying at an alarming rate. They call this devastation Colony Collapse Disorder.

Wisconsin is not immune from CCD, even though it has not been officially reported here. Still, Badger beekeepers are having serious problems. Across the state they’ve reported heavy losses in over-winter colonies this year.

Their concerns are real and official.

Government heads and scientists are scrambling for answers, as bees are vital to our agriculture and the economy.

 

Infected honey

One researcher thinks the answer is in the honey—infected honey.

“Nobody has looked at honey to speak of,” said Dr. Nancy Ostiguy, associate professor of entomology at Penn State University.

 “It’s been sort of the elephant in the room that nobody has wanted to look at,” she said

 Her colleagues might avoid looking at honey for commercial reasons.

“Basically, the general public views honey as pure organic, natural,” she said. And commercial interests do not want that perception polluted. Having researchers suggest US honey is infected would adversely affect the pure perception.

Regardless, her hunch is the bees’ problem lies in honey.

 

You’re what you eat

Her theory is based in the adage: You are what you eat. Bees eat the honey they make. It’s their main source of food.

For years, beekeepers have used harsh chemicals to combat parasites and diseases that attack bee colonies.

“For 62 years that I know of, we’ve been using chemicals,” said Paul Ekblad, 80, a hobby and commercial beekeeper since 1947 and winner of the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association’s 2007 Pioneer Award.

He said beekeepers try and use non-soluble treatments; otherwise the chemicals get into the honey and no one wants to buy “medicated honey.”

Still beekeepers treat their hives with chemicals. And during foraging the bees are in the farmers’ fields bringing back nectar and pollen—and pesticides. All of these “contaminants from those chemicals in the honey” are what the bees are eating. And this may be a significant part of CCD, said Dr. Ostiguy.

 

Pathogen problem

The bees’ problem “seems to behave like a pathogen,” she said.

Years of eating contaminants may have taken their toll and adversely affected the bees. And the affects are just now showing up in the CCD phenomenon. She said the long exposure to poisons may have weakened the bees’ immune system. And this makes them more susceptible to pathogens, like a virus. 

“So that’s what we are trying to do,” she said. “Find out what chemicals might be in colonies, or the range of chemicals, so that we can begin to ferret out what particular ones might be problematical.”

To find this problem, she is canvassing the country requesting honey and comb samples from beekeepers.

 

Two beekeepers

Some members of the Polk-Burnett County Bee Association are helping in this nation-wide research. It’s certainly a novel approach and worthy of attention.

Chris Lyman, of Amery, and myself are participating in the Penn State study.  The university is leading the pack on finding the cause of CCD.

Of course farmers and beekeepers have been using chemicals for years. And thus far the bees seemed to be OK with these known substances.

It’s the unknown that’s under investigation.

 

Nicotinoids

“We’ve had to focus on particular chemicals that are of high interest,” said Dr. Ostiguy. “So we’re looking at the nicotinoids.”

Nicotinoids are a new kind of insecticides. They act on the central nervous system of bees and other insects, causing irreversible blockage of receptors. Nicotine in tobacco works in a similar way.

The use of these new chemicals may be a problem.

“See in order for a person to get sick from a pathogen, you need both the pathogen and you need your immune system not able to handle the pathogen,” said Dr. Ostiguy. “What I think is that the pesticides are interfering with the bees’ ability to handle the pathogen, and we have a new pathogen that has come in.”

 

IAPV

Presently the current, popular culprit researchers are looking at is a disease called Israel acute paralysis virus. Last year, Wisconsin had its first reporting of IAPV, which was discovered in St. Croix County. IAPV is a known marker of CCD.

The mystery of CCD may be caused by IAPV or toxic honey. Scientists are baffled.

“We haven’t figured out what are the confusing things that are confusing us,” said Dr. Ostiguy. “We don’t know yet.”

So she pushes forward with the study into chemical use and pathogens. Her research should reveal something within a year. Beekeepers and farmers all across the fruited plains and around the world hope she is on to something.

Bees are agriculture’s best pollinators. Humans depend on bees. The cost of losing them will be devastating to all.