"Since 2006, 20 to 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States alone have suffered" from CCD. Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana recently published a paper, available here, indicating that combination of a fungus and a virus cause CCD. "Exactly how that combination kills bees remains uncertain, the scientists said -- a subject for the next round of research. But there are solid clues: both the virus and the fungus proliferate in cool, damp weather, and both do their dirty work in the bee gut, suggesting that insect nutrition is somehow compromised."
CCD has been difficult to solve, one reason for this being that "the bees do not just die -- they fly off in every direction from the hive, then die alone and dispersed." This "makes large numbers of bee autopsies problematic."
More research is need to determine how to prevent CCD.
To read the New York Times story, click here.
Posted: 10/07/2010
