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International Bee Killer Found in Rehovot
"A virus identified at The Hebrew University Agriculture Faculty in Rehovot is the prime suspect in the death of bees and the dwindling of bee colonies by "colony collapse disorder" in various parts of the world including Israel. Virology Prof. Ilan Sela, who discovered the virus (dubbed the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus) published his findings in the online edition of Science.
Until then, beekeepers had blamed environmental factors such as cellphone transmissions, climate change and genetically modified crops. A drop of 70-90% in the bee population has been reported in parts of the US, Brazil, Central America, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Portugal in the past few years. Deaths of honeybees in the US led to the country importing them from Australia in 2004. However, the virus has been found in some Australian bees as well, even though the collapse of colonies there has not been as massive as in the US.
Statistical analyses showed that a colony infected with the virus was 65 times more likely to experience colony collapse disorder than one without it. To try to find whether the virus was the cause, researchers are preparing a new series of tests in which isolated bee colonies would purposely be infected with the virus to see the effects. Even though the connection has not yet been proven, Sela hopes that within a few years, it will be possible to save the bees by developing varieties that are immune to the virus.
Ironically, over a month ago a group of Israeli bee experts went to the US to study the reasons for the mysterious reduction in that country's bee population. Yoram Paz, director of an Emek Hefer beehive company, said there were already worrying signs that the problem had begun to reduce honey and fruit production here. Bees are needed not only to make honey but also for pollination of avocado, almond, cherry, apricot, plum, apple, pear and mango trees; without bees, the production of fruit would be severely hampered, Paz said. "
Source: Judy Siegel-Itzkovich. JPost.com (29 Sep 2007) [FullText]
Until then, beekeepers had blamed environmental factors such as cellphone transmissions, climate change and genetically modified crops. A drop of 70-90% in the bee population has been reported in parts of the US, Brazil, Central America, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Portugal in the past few years. Deaths of honeybees in the US led to the country importing them from Australia in 2004. However, the virus has been found in some Australian bees as well, even though the collapse of colonies there has not been as massive as in the US.
Statistical analyses showed that a colony infected with the virus was 65 times more likely to experience colony collapse disorder than one without it. To try to find whether the virus was the cause, researchers are preparing a new series of tests in which isolated bee colonies would purposely be infected with the virus to see the effects. Even though the connection has not yet been proven, Sela hopes that within a few years, it will be possible to save the bees by developing varieties that are immune to the virus.
Ironically, over a month ago a group of Israeli bee experts went to the US to study the reasons for the mysterious reduction in that country's bee population. Yoram Paz, director of an Emek Hefer beehive company, said there were already worrying signs that the problem had begun to reduce honey and fruit production here. Bees are needed not only to make honey but also for pollination of avocado, almond, cherry, apricot, plum, apple, pear and mango trees; without bees, the production of fruit would be severely hampered, Paz said. "
Source: Judy Siegel-Itzkovich. JPost.com (29 Sep 2007) [FullText]
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