The Whispering Crane Institute

Honey Bee’s, is it a Virus?

This whole business about honey-bees and CCD(“Colony Collapse Disorder”) is starting to really worry a lot of people. I myself am wondering if it is part of a cycle, or part of a changing environment. Either way; if true, it would be bad for horticultural, and our dinner table.

I just came across this short story on Science Daily about a group of scientist at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center and University of California San Francisco:

Using a new technology called the Integrated Virus Detection System (IVDS), which was designed for military use to rapidly screen samples for pathogens, ECBC scientists last week isolated the presence of viral and parasitic pathogens that may be contributing to the honeybee loss.

That may in there is a big may . . . I’m not smart enough to know how this would play out, but it cannot be good. This story was dated April 26th if anyone has an update let me know.

Rick Anderson

2 responses to “Honey Bee’s, is it a Virus?”

  1. Hanna Avatar
    Hanna

    There have been parasites doing some serious damage to the honey bees for decades now. This just adds to the problem. Part of the problem is that honey bees are not native to the US and that fact is catching up to them.
    You know, it is funny. For years there has been a darth of honey bees in my garden. This year, I have seen just dozens. I think someone must have set up a hive near by.

    Adding to the problem . . . not a good thing, since your comment I have doubled my efforts in looking, and there seems to be a slow down. I got wasps and yellow jackets, though.

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  2. Dan Fowlks Avatar
    Dan Fowlks

    An open letter to scientists studying Colony Collapse Disorder, beekeepers and farmers

    Earlier this year the scientists who did studies on Climate Change/Global Warming were asked to “negotiate” their findings.

    One report said, “There was little doubt about the science, which was based on 29,000 sets of data, much of it collected in the last five years.’For the first time we are not just arm-waving with models,’ Martin Perry, who conducted the grueling negotiations, told reporters.

    The United States, China and Saudi Arabia raised the many of the objections to the phrasing, often seeking to tone down the certainty of some of the more dire projections.”

    Another stated, “The climax of five days of negotiations was reached when the delegates removed parts of a key chart highlighting devastating effects of climate change that kick in with every rise of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, and in a tussle over the level of scientific reliability attached to key statements.”
    At several points scientists walked out of the conference in protest to the negotiations as reported here – “Some of the world’s best-informed climate change scientists walked out of an all-night drafting session of yesterday’s report on global warming, as tempers flared.”

    Please, do not allow your findings to be diluted. Please do not bow to the pressures of government and business. The people impacted by Colony Collapse Disorder have a right to know the truth and all the facts.

    Please, do your science and research to the best of your ability and publish with the same sincerity as you have shown in the past. We all depend on and will support you.

    Sincerely,
    Dan Fowlks

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