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| Science & Technology | |
| Alarm over deaths of bees from rapidly spreading viral disease | |
| 2020-05-03 | |
| [Guardian] A viral disease that causes honey bees to suffer severe trembling, flightlessness and death within a week is spreading exponentially in Britain. Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) was only recorded in Lincolnshire in 2007. A decade later, it was found in 39 of 47 English counties and six of eight Welsh counties, according to data collected from visits to more than 24,000 beekeepers. As well as struggling to fly, the afflicted bees develop shiny, hairless abdomens. Piles of dead individuals are found outside hives with whole colonies frequently wiped out by the disease.
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| Posted by:Clem |
| #13 Commercial monoculture crops are making necessary the movement of "mercenary bee colonies" that are trucked from site to site to allow for pollination -- the rest of the time there is no way there are enough flowering plants to support the necessary hives. So we are transporting the infection across great distances -- Hurrah for industrial agriculture! |
| Posted by: magpie 2020-05-03 18:00 |
| #12 Treat the hives the same way American foulbrood (another bed disease, fungal, I believe) is treated: dig a 6' deep hole, pile in the hive and all the tools and gear used to work with it. Douse in kerosene and light. Repeat the burning until nothing recognizable remains, then fill in the hole. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2020-05-03 17:35 |
| #10 Well, the disease has been around since Aristotle, so 10 years is quite the conservative number. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2020-05-03 09:29 |
| #9 #5 Right. 10 (actually almost 12) was when I was exposed to the problem. It’s behind the paywall, but you should be able to read it if you drop the headline in the Google search app. Neh, I don't care about pollination (professionally) anymore. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-05-03 08:52 |
| #8 Shhhh, not so loud. Pelosi might try to slip that into the next recovery bill. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-05-03 08:45 |
| #7 if someone is in need of a grant you can be sure that they will suddenly discover it is a 'new more virulent strain' |
| Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 2020-05-03 08:34 |
| #6 And now the "murder hornet"...someone sent me this today |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-05-03 07:59 |
| #5 g(r)omgoru, they started fussing about fifteen years ago. There are more up to date articles, but Call off the bee-pocalypse: U.S. honeybee colonies hit a 20-year high from 2015 has an interesting graph. It’s behind the paywall, but you should be able to read it if you drop the headline in the Google search app. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-05-03 07:54 |
| #4 Honey bees been dying off for what, a decade now? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-05-03 04:04 |
| #3 Read a trash thriller recently, 'The Demon Crown,' by James Rollins. All about killer hornets sent from Asia in a terrorist plot. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2020-05-03 01:05 |
| #2 Good! Glad to see the bees out there! |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-05-03 01:02 |
| #1 Not in North Texas. We planted four Eggleston Holly trees last fall, and they have been covered in honey bees all this week! But beware of the bee-killing Giant Asian Hornet, invading from the Pacific Northwest! (h. t. Mrs. Bobby) |
| Posted by: Bobby 2020-05-03 01:00 |