News and information in the Bee keeping and Bee removing industry for South Africa and the rest of the world

A virus with similarities to HIV identified as a cause of Colony Collapse Disorder

Colony collapse disorder is at the heart of the disappearing bee population around the world. The cause and the blame for this phenomenon has shifted from from one end of the spectrum to the next, from insecticides to cell phone signal radiation. The latest cause of colony collapse disorder appears to be a plant borne virus which has mutated in such a way that it can transfer to bees and other insects.

Tobacco ringspot virus is a pollen borne pathogen which is not only found in tobacco but manages to destroy other crops like soy. This virus has been latching on to bees by way of pollen and then moving from bee to bee and hive to hive through pollination activity and other pests like the varroa mite.

Scientists have noticed a similarity in this virus to the persistence of the HIV which is able to mutate and continue suppressing the immune system.

Dr Judy Chen of USDA Agricultural Research Service laboratory believes that caution would be the best policy as the virus would be difficult to seprare from a cocktail of other pathogens affecting bees and so can not be given all the blame, in spite of the evidence that Tobacco ringspot virus is responsible for the low winter survival rates.

Selenium: a new culprit in the battle to survive

Selenium occurs in nature and is often found near mining and industry. Selenium occurs in four different forms, selenate, selenite, methylselenocystine and selenocystine, all of which have a negative impact on insect development and their ability to pollinate.

In many countries, the geography is of such a nature the agriculture and industry are on the outskirts of a town or city, and often close together, which contributes to the presence of selenium in the soil and air.

Selenium accumulates in plants through absorption by it's presence in water and soil, while airborne selenium deposits can actually be deposited directly on the hive. Honey bees will ingest the selenium while foraging as it is present in pollen and nectar, due to the plant absorbing the metal from the soil.

Studies were done on bee larvae at various stages of development to determine the impact of selenium in it's various forms. The results of the study were published in the Oct. 2013 issue of the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Bees should be moved from their location if the selenium levels are high, and certain plants, which although considered weeds still provide bees with forage, are prone to higher selenium accumulation should be managed and removed.

 

Minimise bee deaths when spraying crops and gardens.

With the arrival of spring and many fruit trees beginning to blossom, specifically at an agricultural level, a number of plant pests need to be contended with. There a specific poisons for particular pests, however the application of these poisons needs to be monitored or times of application changed due the impact it has on the bee population which farmers keep chiefly for purposes of pollination of fields and orchards.

A simple way to minimise the impact these sprays have on bees is to do the crop dusting at night as the bees are not active at night and should be safely in hives and if poisons are liquid there is time for drying before the bees become active again.

Your garden is also a source of nutrition for bees who are foraging in the area. Although not in direct competition with the bees there are other insects which depend on your garden, flower or otherwise, unfortunately these are the little guys that can destroy all your hard work. When you do decide to do something about the insects and choose pesticide as your weapon of choice, make sure you are using a poison suited to the problem, also as an extra measure rather spray plants with the poison as late in the afternoon/early evening as possible as bees are not active then and you don't run the risk of doing them any harm.

There are alternatives that can benefit you and your environment, look what others have done:

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A not so new culprit, but a different angle, in the question of what is causing the drop off in the bee population.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), or the disappearance of entire colonies of bees has been blamed on anything from pesticides to electro-magnetic interference. But according to a study by the university of Maryland it is a deadly cocktail of a number of pesticides and fungicides which are contaminating the pollen with which bees feed their hives. Based on the samples taken the hives had been exposed to an average of nine different fungicides and pesticides and in one case the number was as high as 21different chemicals.

Clearly certain farmers have altered spraying practices so as not to affect the bee population directly but there is no getting away from the fact that poison is poison, and there seems to residue in the pollens which weakens bee resistance to disease, and if the number of different contaminants in a food supply is as high as 21 then the bees are facing real danger if not instant death of the entire colony.

Ever wonder what bees do in winter?

Bees do not enjoy the cold at all so when winter arrives and temperatures start to drop they will enter the hive and stay there until the weather warms up again. What do they do in the hive for that time?

The bees will form a cluster around the queen and shiver to keep her and themselves warm. The queen remains in the centre of the cluster while the worker bees surrounding her will rotate in an effort to keep everybody equally warm.
The bees will consume their store of honey in order to produce energy to keep them shivering. On warmer days they might take a quick flight, but that is to eliminate waste.

In certain instances it has been recorded that the drones will be chased from the hive to fend for themselves if the food stores get too low.

Luckily in South Africa our winter temperatures do not dip too low or for too long a period at a time and the bees will generally suvive and reappear as soon the weather warms up and plants start to bloom.