Honeybee Deaths

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There's a lot of buzz among scientists about a new study linking the collapse of honeybee colonies to a fungus and to an insect virus. The findings offer a new lead in the mysterious disappearance of millions of bees.

NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

ALLISON AUBREY: One morning back in the fall of 2004, a commercial beekeeper in Pennsylvania named Dave Hackenberg(ph) went to check on one of his hives. He was concerned because he'd noticed that his bees were dwindling in number. At 7 a.m. that day, he estimates there were about 5,000 in the hive.

Mr. DAVE HACKENBERG (Beekeeper): And by 2 o'clock in the afternoon, there was nobody home. I mean, it just they just totally disappeared.

AUBREY: The rapid disappearance of bees, vanishing in just a few days or weeks, is a signature of the phenomenon that scientists have dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder.蜂群衰竭失調 It's linked to the loss of 40 to 60 percent of beehives over the last six years.

And if you ask Dave Hackenberg what's causing it?

Mr. HACKENBERG: Something has messed up the immune system, and the bees can't take it.

AUBREY: Lots of scientists have the same theory, but figuring out exactly why so many bees are dying is proving to be very complicated.

There have been a couple of studies pointing to different viruses and pathogens as possible causes. The latest research has found that a particular insect virus, first seen in Asian honeybees, is working in tandem with一前一後通力合作 a fungus.

I reached the paper's author, Robert Kramer(ph) of Montana State, on his cell phone this afternoon.

Mr. ROBERT KRAMER (Montana State University): The interesting finding that's of significance for us it that it was the occurrence of both the virus and the fungus菌類 at the same time that seemed to correlate with有關連 the collapsing hives. So our data suggests that these two pathogens interacting together might be playing a pretty big role.

AUBREY: Kramer's excited by his findings. They offer up what he thinks is an important clue. But he says he'd be the last to say that this cracks the case or solves the mystery of vanishing honeybees.

Researcher Dennis vanEngelsdorp of Penn State says the viral sicknesses may be just one of the threats the bees face.

Mr. DENNIS VAN ENGELSDORP (Researcher, Pennsylvania State University): Well, I think that the data so far from a lot of studies, including this current one, shows that these bees get very, very sick. What we don't know is why they become susceptible to this host of pathogens, viruses and fungus.

AUBREY: As a species, bees have thrived for thousands of years and likely survived many different types of diseases. So why now have bees become so vulnerable? vanEngelsdorp says the growing consensus is that there are multiple causes working together to weaken the immune system of bees.

It may be a combination of environmental factors, as researcher Leonard Foster, of the University of British Columbia. One possibility?

Dr. LEONARD FOSTER (Researcher, University of British Columbia): Exposure to chemicals in the environment that bees are picking up when they pollinate授粉 flowers.

AUBREY: Or when they pollinate crops for farmers. Scientists say it's likely that pathogens and environmental stressors combine together to create a perfect storm.

Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

SIEGEL: And if you're curious about the healing powers of honey for people, you can check out Allison's video at npr.org.