...this is an article in our local paper. our local inspector
(according to the article) seems to think that it's a virus (unless
he was misrepresented, but i think not, as our club's website links
to the article). Ken is a fantastic beekeeper, but is the claim
of "virus transmited via mite" a little premature?:
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20070224/NEWS/702240347/1008/NEWSREWIND
Virus ravaging bees, threatens food cycle
By Lisa D. Welsh TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER— A virus affecting the state’s honeybee population is being
closely watched to see whether it will have broader implications on
prices.
“The bee population is being threatened and if that happens, food
prices will skyrocket,” said Kenneth Warchol of Northbridge, the
state apiary inspector. “Fifty percent of all food crops are
pollinated by honeybees.”
Mr. Warchol is federally certified to check the 20,000 honeybee hives
in the state. In July, when hives are at their peak, 60,000 honeybees
are contained in one hive or colony. Mr. Warchol’s primary role is to
keep the bee population safe, and that responsibility is being
jeopardized by a virus of unknown origins.
It has been determined that mites transfer the virus within the
honeybee colony by attacking honeybee larvae and young adults. Once
the parasites make contact with the hive, they cannot be eradicated,
he said.
Last fall, Mr. Warchol started receiving reports of healthy, thriving
honeybee hives dying out within one or two weeks. Over the winter,
the bees have been dormant, sealed in their beehives. The honeybees’
condition won’t be known until the hives become active again by late
next month.
“This virus is comparable to how the black plague wiped out people in
the Middle Ages,” Mr. Warchol said. “There were a lot of dead hives
in the fall, and the virus spreads from one beehive to the next. Left
unchecked, it will wipe out the population.” He added that he has
notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
According to Mr. Warchol, there were reports of a heavy mite
population last year and mites have been a cyclical problem for bees
since the 1990s.
“Last fall was the first major disappearance of entire hives,” Mr.
Warchol said. “Researchers are trying to narrow the virus down. Big
commercial beehives have been ravaged in Florida and Louisiana by
this virus.”
The last time there was a heavy mite infestation in Worcester County
was in 1995, when 80 percent of beehives were wiped out.
“Hopefully it’s not going to be that bad this year, but we could
easily see 50, 60, even 70 percent of beehives totally wiped out,”
Mr. Warchol said. “There’s a delicate balance here. Thriving crops
are dependent upon the pollination by honeybees who seek nectar.
Without the honeybees, without the pollination, crops will be
sparse.”
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