CATCH THE BUZZ - NEWEST CCD STUDY RELEASED

CATCH THE BUZZ

Newest CCD Study released this week.

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Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study

Dennis vanEngelsdorp1,2, Jay D. Evans5, Claude Saegerman3, Chris Mullin2, Eric Haubruge4, Bach Kim Nguyen4, Maryann Frazier2, Jim Frazier2, Diana Cox-Foster2, Yanping Chen5, Robyn Underwood2, David R. Tarpy6, Jeffery S. Pettis5*

1 Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 2 Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University

Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 3 Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Epidemiology and Risk analysis applied to the Veterinary Sciences,

University of Liege, Liege, Belgium, 4 Department of Functional and Evolutionary Entomology, Gembloux Agricultural University, Gembloux, Belgium, 5 United States

Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America, 6 Department of

Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America

Abstract

Background: Over the last two winters, there have been large-scale, unexplained losses of managed honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies in the United States. In the absence of a known cause, this syndrome was named Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) because the main trait was a rapid loss of adult worker bees. We initiated a descriptive epizootiological study in order to better characterize CCD and compare risk factor exposure between populations afflicted by and not afflicted by CCD.

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Methods and Principal Findings: Of 61 quantified variables (including adult bee physiology, pathogen loads, and pesticide levels), no single measure emerged as a most-likely cause of CCD. Bees in CCD colonies had higher pathogen loads and were co-infected with a greater number of pathogens than control populations, suggesting either an increased exposure to pathogens or a reduced resistance of bees toward pathogens. Levels of the synthetic acaricide coumaphos (used by beekeepers to control the parasitic mite Varroa destructor) were higher in control colonies than CCD-affected colonies.

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Conclusions/Significance: This is the first comprehensive survey of CCD-affected bee populations that suggests CCD involves an interaction between pathogens and other stress factors. We present evidence that this condition is contagious or the result of exposure to a common risk factor. Potentially important areas for future hypothesis-driven research, including the possible legacy effect of mite parasitism and the role of honey bee resistance to pesticides, are highlighted.

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Read the entire paper at:http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0006481

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Back after a short summer break and an entire week at EAS