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Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:05:58 -0400 |
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* I thought the article was balanced on the whole, countering the
alarmist reports linking the bees' demise with everything that is
"wrong" with modern life. However, the facts start to become dated
toward the end:
> Stocks of domesticated honeybees, the most important crop
pollinator of all, have also decreased considerably in the US and some
European countries in recent decades. However, these declines have
been more than offset by strong increases in Asia, Latin America and
Africa. Indeed, the number of managed honeybee hives worldwide has
increased by about 45 per cent in the past five decades.
* That is what I thought. But reports of die-offs are starting to
surface from Asia, Latin America and Africa, as I reported this week.
> There have also been scare stories about "colony collapse disorder"
and the spread of Varroa mites in the US and Europe. Again, these are
real phenomena, but they are short-term blips rather than the driving
forces of long-term trends.
* I would hardly call these "blips", particularly if colony collapse
is in fact a result of long-term varroa infestation and the
concomitant buildup and evolution of viruses. The very contagious
nature of so-called colony collapse leads one to suspect a pathogen.
And if it has not yet been identified, it may be world wide before we
know what it really is.
Reed M. Johnson, et al:
> Microarray analysis revealed unusual ribosomal RNA fragments that
were conspicuously more abundant in the guts of CCD bees. The presence
of these fragments may be a possible consequence of picorna-like viral
infection ... Ribosomal fragment abundance and presence of multiple
viruses may prove to be useful diagnostic markers for colonies
afflicted with CCD.
* * *
Peter L Borst
Ithaca NY
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