Fungus Foot Baths Could Save BeesJuly 29, 2008One of the biggest world wide threats to honey bees, the varroa mite, could soon be about to meet its nemesis. Researchers at the University of Warwick are examining naturally occurring fungi that kill the varroa mite. They are also exploring a range of ways to deliver the killer fungus throughout the hives from bee fungal foot baths to powder sprays. It well known that bees world wide are suffering serious declines and one of the causes of that decline is the varroa mite, Varroa destructor. Varroa mites feed on the circulatory fluid of honey bee pupae and adult bees, and in so doing they activate and transmit diseases which reduce the life expectancy of the bees and cause the colony to decline. Varroa has had a major impact in all countries where it has become established, for example it has caused losses of 30-50% of honey bee colonies when it first arrived in the UK and is now endemic. The loss of honey bees on this scale is affecting the pollination of commercial crops and wild plants. It originates in Asia, but has extended its range world-wide. At present, the management of varroa is based on the use of chemical pesticides, but the mites are developing resistance. Biological control technologies (the use of one organism to control another) could offer a way of moving pest management strategies away from a reliance on these synthetic pesticides but no natural insect or other enemies of varroa species have been identified on the varroa or on their bee hosts.
Now Defra-funded studies by researchers at the University of Warwick's plant research group Warwick HRI, and Rothamsted Research has found some new natural enemies of varroa from other hosts. University of Warwick researcher Dr Dave Chandler said: "We examined 50 different types of fungi that afflict other insects (known as entomopathogenic fungi) to see if they would kill varroa. We needed to find fungi that were effective killers of varroa, had a low impact on the bees, and worked in the warm and dry conditions typically found in bee hives. Of the original 50 fungi we are now focusing on four that best match those three requirements." The team now hope to secure additional funding to further examine the effectiveness of these four fungi and to begin to consider the best ways of applying this weapon across the hive. A number of approaches are being considered including having fungal footbaths at the main entrances to hives. However the complex environment within bee hives means that more devious means of application may be needed. Dr Chandler will be hosting the Society for Invertebrate Pathology international conference at the University of Warwick, starting 4th August, where a special session is being held on honey bee health. The session will bring together some the world's leading experts in bee colony collapse disorder to discuss the full range of its possible underlying causes. University of Warwick | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Related Bee Current Events and Bee News Articles Social interactions can alter gene expression in the brain, and vice versa Our DNA determines a lot about who we are and how we play with others, but recent studies of social animals (birds and bees, among others) show that the interaction between genes and behavior is more of a two-way street than most of us realize. Inmates conduct ecological research on slow-growing mosses Nalini Nadkarni of Evergreen State College currently advises a team of researchers who sport shaved heads, tattooed biceps and prison-issued garb rather than the lab coats and khakis typically worn by researchers. Bee swarms follow high-speed 'streaker' bees to find a new nest It's one of the hallmarks of spring: a swarm of bees on the move. But how a swarm locates a new nest site when less than 5% of the community know the way remains a mystery. New nanoscale process created by UCSB scientists will help computers run faster and more efficiently Smaller. Faster. More efficient. These are the qualities that drive science and industry to create new nanoscale structures that will help to speed up computers. Researchers discover that growing up too fast may mean dying young in honey bees Reactive oxygen species (ROS) occur as a by-product of aerobic metabolism and impair cellular function by damaging proteins, nucleotides and lipids. Penn researchers use honeybee venom toxin to develop a new tool for studying hypertension Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have modified a honeybee venom toxin so that it can be used as a tool to study the inner workings of ion channels that control heart rate and the recycling of salt in kidneys. Pesticide build-up could lead to poor honey bee health Honey bees industriously bring pollen and nectar to the hive, but along with the bounty comes a wide variety of pesticides, according to Penn State researchers. Caltech neurobiologists discover individuals who 'hear' movement Individuals with synesthesia perceive the world in a different way from the rest of us. Because their senses are cross-activated, some synesthetes perceive numbers or letters as having colors or days of the week as possessing personalities, even as they function normally in the world. Saving our bees Most of the world's plant species rely on animals to transfer their pollen to other plants. The undisputed queen of these animal pollinators is the bee, made up of about 30,000 species worldwide, whose daily flights aid in the reproduction of more than half of the world's flowering plants. A bee's future as queen or worker may rest with parasitic fly Strange things are happening in the lowland tropical forests of Panama and Costa Rica. A tiny parasitic fly is affecting the social behavior of a nocturnal bee, helping to determine which individuals become queens and which become workers. More Bee Current Events and Bee News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||