Scientists Know One Cause Of Bee Disease

Maryam Henein -- Members of the Colony Collapse Disorder Working Group submitted a manuscript recently to one of the most prestigious science journals in the nation, stating that they've found a new virus that may be contributing to, if not causing, the vanishing of the bees. The authors unfortunately are not at liberty to say much about it their findings because of all the science-related red tape involved. When it comes to "hard" science reporting, there are non-disclosures and embargoes. Spilling the beans before peer review has evaluated and accepted a paper could jeopardize its publication. Scientists get raises, tenure and recognition based on these published results. "We're obligated by the journal's policies not to talk about it," says Diana Cox-Foster, an entomology professor at Penn State University, member of the CCD Working Group and one of the author's of the paper. "We don't even know when it's going to be published but we're anxiously waiting. (According to an article in the New York Time dated April24, Cox-Foster is leading the team of researchers in the CCD Working Group.) Some of the other members however are frustrated because they too are being kept out of the loop. "One would hope that if they had some new information that was germane to solving the problem, whoever it is, would share it with the rest of us. But we haven't seen anything' we've only heard rumors," says one of the members who wished not be identified.

Hive mentality? I think not. The member adds that asserting it's a virus is nothing new. Back in late April when scientists first met in Beltsville to discuss CCD, they announced that they'd found a variety of viruses in the dead bee samples, none of which were common denominators to CCD. Currently they've found several that remain "unnamed" and "unnamable." They've gone to two labs and there's still no clear cut identification. "The thing is nobody knows how many viruses normally occur in honey bees. Maybe they're just looking at ones they didn't know were there to begin with and perhaps they're benign and not a causing any problems," says the member. "And maybe it's the same ones that we've also found." When I ask my source whether the protocol and politics surrounding CCD adds to problem, they laugh nervously. "I think I'd just as soon stay out of that fray at the moment." What we do know according to the word in the bee yard and a small article that appeared in a Lancaster Farming magazine, which also quoted Cox-Foster, is that a new virus was found in dead bee samples throughout the country. This virus is coming from potentially two different countries.

When I ask Jerry Hayes, Chief of the Apiary Section at Florida's Department of Agriculture and another member of the CCD working group, whether it's New Zealand and Australia, he concurs. "I would think so, they're the only countries that are allowed to import bees into the US." But if that's the case, I wonder, then why aren't they stricken with CCD? Some beekeepers like David Hackenberg are wondering the same thing. "It's true that there are no cases of CCD being reported there but keep in mind that any time you mix populations, you are going to have transmissions of disease that affect one type of species and not the other," adds Hayes. We're dealing with different immune systems. Of course, if it is a virus that is causing CCD, scientists then have to find some sort of treatment. And even before they do that, Cox-Foster says they need to simulate CCD on healthy hives and see if the virus is indeed the cause of the ailment. As it stands, researchers are not ruling out other possible causes of CCD such as the use of insecticides, other insects, and stress on over-wintering bees, she said. "We're far from making any distinct conclusions," says Cox-Foster. "We've been working on this since October of '06. Florida was the first to report it and I've been with this thing since the beginning and we haven't found one causal agent or one smoking gun so to speak," adds Hayes. "So the question arises, what different levels of components are intersecting or synergistically acting to cause this different way of honey bees to die."

Honeybees have always been the ugly step-sister of agriculture because people have always assumed that they'd always be there. Well not anymore. "Because of mis-leading publicity," says Cox-Foster, "legislative staff are wondering if this means we've solved something. Which is not the case. At all. We still need to get monies for research. There are bills being written right now but of course we're competing with different interests in the world such as the Iraq war."

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