What is being done about the honey bee epidemic...?  And what can you do...?

Photo by Ginny Stibolt

As discussed in this post, Honey Bees have been having some trouble lately. 

They're suffering from something called colony collapse disorder (CCD) and they're dying off in droves, and we dont really know why. 

In 2006, CCD began devastating commercial beekeeping operations, with some beekeepers reporting losses of up to 90 percent, according to the USDA. Researchers believe CCD may be the result of a combination of pathogens, parasites and stress factors, but the cause remains elusive.

Now mind you, these are 'domesticated' or commercial honey bees were talking about, not native bees species.  

Now there is some good news; the epidemic may have peaked.  Still, just take a look at the numbers:

Honey bee colony losses nationwide were approximately 29 percent from all causes from September 2008 to April 2009, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This is less than the overall losses of about 36 percent from 2007 to 2008, and about 32 percent from 2006 to 2007, that have been reported in similar surveys.

"While the drop in losses is encouraging, losses of this magnitude are economically unsustainable for commercial beekeeping," said Jeff Pettis, research leader of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md.

The genisis of the last post was the discovery of a parasite Nosema ceranae that appears to at least be partly responsible for the disorder.  It didnt take long, but now the parasite's genome has been decoded.

The microsporidian Nosema is a fungus-related microbe that produces spores that bees consume when they forage. Infection spreads from their digestive tract to other tissues. Within weeks, colonies are either wiped out or lose much of their strength.

Sequencing the genome should help scientists trace the parasite's migration patterns, determine how it became dominant, and help resolve the spread of infection by enabling the development of diagnostic tests and treatments.

Genome sequencing is just standard procedure these days if you want to study something.  But there's much we have to learn, including what happens to the native bee population when the domesticated bee colonies collapse and what happens to pollination levels. 

Fear not, in steps more modern technology.  Something called the interwebs, or something?  Actually, more like crowd sourcing, its called the Great Sunflower Project, and it might not be too late for you to participate.  From their website:

By watching and recording the bees at sunflowers in your garden, you can help us understand the challenges that bees are facing. While we are no longer sending out annual Lemon Queen sunflower seeds for 2009...The instructions are here. Do join us!

• It takes less than 30 minutes.
• It's easy.
• Free Sunflower seeds for planting - will be sent for 2010.
• No knowledge of bees required!

Its a great marraige of low cost, remote data gathering and technology. 

"What you do is you stand out there and you time how long it takes for five bees to visit," LeBeun said, up to thirty minutes.

Then watchers report their results on the website or by mail. Soon participants will be able to upload time-stamped digital photographs to vouch for their observations.

New York City has a similar local project called the Great Pollinator Project.

Here's your bee guide!  Now off you go...save the bees!

Stay Tuned...