Research in the Flenniken lab is aimed at better understanding how multiple biotic factors such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and mites affect colony losses with other factors such as agrochemicals and weather events.
“It isn’t just one factor” that’s responsible for colony losses,” Flenniken said. “Currently, researchers are focused on determining how multiple, synergistic factors cause the death of a colony.”
Researchers from the University of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently completed the first comprehensive, multi-year study of honey bee parasites and disease as part of the National Honey Bee Disease Survey. Key findings, which are published in the journal Apidologie, show that the Varroa mite, a major honey bee pest, is far more abundant than previous estimates indicated and is closely linked to several damaging viruses. Also, the results show that the previously rare chronic bee paralysis virus has skyrocketed in prevalence since it was first detected by the survey in 2010.
Editor’s Note: The complete study, “Multiyear survey targeting disease incidence in US honey bees” by Kirsten S. Traynor, Karen Rennich, Eva Forsgren, Robyn Rose, Jeffery Pettis, Grace Kunkel, Shayne Madella, Jay Evans, Dawn Lopezand 1 more published in Apidologie is available here (paywall).
The first multi-year honeybee disease study in the United States has revealed that varroa mite infestations in the country are far worse than what was previously believed, as the population of the deadly pests is more abundant than ever.
The class of insecticides called neonicotinoids (neonics) were introduced to a lot of fanfare from farmers and environmentalists alike. They were seen as far less toxic than alternative pesticides, and could be applied into the soil or on seeds, avoiding the damage to beneficial insects that’s often caused by sprays.
***
Gore and his colleagues discovered that treating soybean seeds with neonics (imidacloprid or thiamethoxam) and a fungicide provided higher yields than seed treatments using a fungicide only. . . .
by Terry Turner
Klinker may look like any other black Labrador retriever, but she’s the only dog in America that can do this job — sniffing out disease and saving whole colonies of bees with one visit.
Since 2008, Klinker has been sniffing out American foulbrood — a bacteria that if not caught right away, can sweep through a colony, jumping from hive to hive and destroying any larvae. It’s the most common and destructive disease facing honey bees, but it’s no match for this dog’s nose.
Editor’s Note: The complete article “Value of Neonicotinoid Insecticide Seed Treatments in Mid-South Soybean (Glycine max) Production Systems,” by J. H.North, J.Gore, A. L.Catchot, S. D.Stewart, G. M.Lorenz, F. R.Musser, D. R.Cook, D. L.Kerns, D. M.Dodds is available from the Journal of Entomology here.
A bean leaf beetle (Cerotoma trifurcata) on soybean. Photo by Winston Beck, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org.
By Andrew Porterfield
***
The same scientists, led by Jeff Gore, an extension/research professor at Mississippi State, recently evaluated 170 field trials on soybean fields in four southern states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) over 10 years. Their meta-analysis appears in the Journal of Economic Entomology.
Bees from New Zealand, Australia, Chile and parts of the U.S. are helping bolster local populations
By Elizabeth McMillan
Joe Goetz is unpacking some precious cargo, introducing tens of thousands of Australian honey bees to new living quarters at his farm in Windsor Forks.
Goetz, who owns Scotian Bee Honey, imported about 300 1.5 kilogram packages of bees from Tasmania, at an estimated cost of $68,000.
