Strange affliction killing N.B. honey bees

[Guest guest]

" The thought is we can grow the fungi, and put it in the hives, " Boyle said.

If we get the right strain of fungus, it will kill the mites without any

adverse effect on the bees. " [as co-quoted by Homer Simpson...just kidding]

Sharon K.

Strange affliction killing N.B. honey bees

Last Updated: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 | 1:00 PM AT

_CBC News_ (http://www.cbc.ca/news/credit.html)

With a mysterious disease or parasite ravaging beekeepers' hives in New

Brunswick, honey producers in the region are in for a tough season.

Beekeeper Vautour says 80 per cent of his 180 hives are full of dead

bees.

Vautour, who is president of the New Brunswick Beekeepers Association, said

the dead bees in his hives are only a small fraction of the bees he usually

keeps.

" We think there might be something in the environment that they're getting

into and getting disoriented, " Vautour said. " Those hives were boiling last

fall when I put them away, and now there's a tiny little cluster in them. A lot

of the bees have absconded and not come back. "

Vautour says half the beekeepers in the province report having the same

problems he's experiencing. Beekeepers in the northeast United States and in

Ontario have been reporting similar problems.

Beekeepers from at least 22 states have reported unusual colony deaths, and

some commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 50 per cent of their

colonies.

_Continue Article_

(http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2007/04/10/nb-beedisease.html#skip\

300x250)

Vautour said U.S. researchers are already working to get to the bottom of the

problem, but no solution is in sight.

Mites may be culprit: professor

University of New Brunswick microbiologist Boyle suggests mites may be

a culprit and is developing ways to use fungus to fight the tiny, spider-like

parasites.

" The thought is we can grow the fungi, and put it in the hives, " Boyle said.

If we get the right strain of fungus, it will kill the mites without any

adverse effect on the bees. "

Boyle is conducting tests in the lab to find a fungus that works, but he

won't be able to offer beekeepers a solution to a mite problem this year.

" There are a lot of steps involved, " Boyle said. " I would guess it would take

two or three years if things went well. "

Members of the beekeepers association will meet with New Brunswick

agriculture officials later this week.

In the meantime, Vautour says he doesn't expect consumers to be much affected

this year because a steady honey supply from Europe and Asia will help keep

prices stable.

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

[Guest guest]

Bill Maher mentioned this on his HBO Show 'Real Time', see below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/the-birds-the-bees-and-

_b_46410.html

<http://tinyurl.com/ywu256>

From Bill Maher:

Here's a quote from Albert Einstein: " if the bee disappeared off the

surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life

left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more

animals, no more man. " Well, guess what? The bees are disappearing.

In massive numbers. All around the world. And if you think I'm being

alarmist and that, " Oh, they'll figure out some way to pollinate the

plants... " No, they've tried. For a lot of what we eat, only bees

work. And they're not working. They're gone.

>

>

> " The thought is we can grow the fungi, and put it in the hives, "

Boyle said.

>