From: Capital Press
John O’Connell
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Oakley potato farmer Randy Hardy will represent the IPC on Idaho’s committee. Hardy said virtually all of Idaho’s conventional potato producers use the systemic insecticide imidacloprid to protect their crops from diseases such as potato leafroll virus. The chemical is in the neonicotinoid class, which has been targeted for regulation due to possible impacts on pollinators. Hardy said spud growers apply the chemical as a seed treatment or in-furrow, having no effect on bees.
“If (regulators) know states are watching (pollinator health) and monitoring and coming up with their own procedures, it will go a long way,” Hardy said.
September 2, 2016
From: PLOS | Pathogens
Laura M. Brutscher, Alexander J. McMenamin, Michelle L. Flenniken
In this short review, we present our current understanding of the role of viruses on honey bee health and address some overarching questions in honey bee virology.
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September 1, 2016
From: CBC News
Chemical treatments and changes to hives seem to be slowing parasite which weaken bees immune system
Beekeepers in northwestern Ontario could be turning the corner in the battle against the devastating Varroa mite, according to the president of the Thunder Bay Beekeepers Association.
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“People like myself that’s been treating, we’re not really having an issue. Actually, we’re thriving. I haven’t seen the bees this good in years. It’s crazy,” he said.
Read Complete Article
August 31, 2016
From: stuff.co.nz
JAMIE SMALL
Plant & Food Research is asking for public help to locate colonies of feral bees, as groundbreaking evidence suggests they may save our honey industry from the devastating varroa mite.
Bee numbers in New Zealand are growing – bucking the international trend – thanks to human intervention controlling varroa, says Dr Mark Goodwin, who leads the organisation’s apiculture and pollination team.
Read Complete Article
August 30, 2016
From: The Washington Post
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Randy Oliver, a commercial beekeeper, biologist and author of the website Scientific Beekeeping, is less circumspect. I asked him what the top three priorities for bee health were, and he said, “varroa, varroa and varroa.”
But pesticides matter, too. May Berenbaum, head of the entomology department at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, points out that insecticides are designed to kill insects, so it’s not surprising that they have an impact on bees. The problem, though, isn’t limited to one class of insecticides. “The media has focused on neonicotinoids,” which have been the subject of more than 100 papers in scientific literature in 2015 and 2016, she says. “The light is shining most brightly, and people are looking where the light is bright.” By contrast, “varroa is a horrible nightmare. It has not been captured by the media just how disastrous it has been.”
August 29, 2016
From: Montana State University
By Marshall Swearingen for the MSU News Service
BOZEMAN — Researchers at Montana State University have published an informational paper in a scholarly journal summarizing what’s known about the role that viruses play in honey bee health.
August 26, 2016
From: Forbes
Henry I. Miller, CONTRIBUTOR
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This would be scary stuff indeed—if it were true. But like so many overly simplistic, sky-is-falling claims, these predictions are misleading and false. Activist groups like Loonies of the Earth—sorry, I mean Friends of the Earth—and the Pesticide Action Network work tirelessly to provide the media a steady stream of suitable doom-and-gloom material that they and other groups then use for “save the bees” fundraising opportunities.
August 25, 2016
From: PLOS Blogs
On the eve of National Honey Bee Day, PLOS’s Jose Mendez interviews researcher Dr. Michelle Flenniken, Ph.D of Montana State University to discuss the role of viruses on honey bee health and the importance of honey bee colony losses in her new PLOS Pathogens Pearls Article, The Buzz About Honey Bee Viruses.
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One of the biggest challenges to maintaining healthy bee colonies is mitigating mite (Varroa destructor) infestations. What can beekeepers do to reduce mite infestations?
August 23, 2016
From: ManukaHoneyUSA.com
When it comes to preserving honeybee colonies, many beekeepers succeed in fighting off certain threats to bees but struggle with others, and the varroa mite, a parasite and vector for viruses that is believed to be a major cause of colony collapse disorder, has been a consistent threat to honeybees since the late 1980s. While most focus on the threat pesticides present, real progress is being made in building up bees’ resistance to varroa mites, thanks in large part to the efforts of Jeff Harris, a beekeeper and research apiculturist from Mississippi State University. With this resistance to varroa mites comes a crucial trait—the ability to destroy invading mites within a hive by cannibalizing other bees infected with mites.
August 22, 2016
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