They have suggested putting up ‘foot baths’ containing the newly-discovered fungus at the entrance of the hives, a measure that will enable the fungus to freely circulate among the bees and do away with the deadly virus afflicting them.
Researcher Dr. Dave Chandler said, “The fungi occur naturally on plants and in the soil and in lab tests they have proved extremely effective in killing Varroa. It won’t be a magic bullet but it could be part of the solution.”
Dr. Chandler went on to explain, “We examined 50 different types of fungi that afflict other insects to see if they would kill Varroa. We needed to find fungi that were effective killers of Varroa, had a low impact on the bees, and worked in the warm and dry conditions typically found in bee hives. Of the original 50 fungi we are now focusing on four that best match those three requirements."
The team has urged for funding to enable more research into the effectiveness of the four fungi and to determine whether fungal footbaths are the best possible manner of administering them.
“Bees are very tactile and are always touching, exchanging pheromones or food and once they have picked up the fungus they would quickly spread it around," added Dr Chandler.
A special session on honey bee health is scheduled to be held at the university on August, 4 as part of a Society for Invertebrate Pathology international conference. The session purports to bring together the world's leading experts in bee colony collapse disorder to discuss the various underlying causes of its outbreak.
The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) has been, during recent times, warning the Government that bee numbers have been dwindling dramatically. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had earlier rejected appeals for increasing the £200,000 per year funds set aside for research into bee diseases, particularly the Varroa mite.
But Defra have admitted to signs of "significant colony losses across the country" of late and plans to take up measures to deal with the exigency.
In the United States, where CCD had an earlier and more devastating impact, the government is spending $80m (£40m) on research into CCD.
Bees are essential for the pollination of more than 90 fruit and vegetable crops across the world and the death of bees in their billions owing to CCD has been the cause of rising concern.
Many beekeepers believe that CCD is not one particular disorder but caused by a complex combination of factors - diseases, stress, pesticides and even climate change - which lead bees to desert their hives and die.
Though beekeepers lose a proportion of their bees every year, but this time around losses far exceeding expectations have spread uneasiness across the country.
Post new comment