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A research team from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) may have inadvertently discovered a major cause behind the dramatic falls in Honey bee populations - also known as CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder.
Headed by Cedric Alaux, the team has managed to trace a possible link between the diversity of bee diets and the strength of their immune systems. Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the INRA team has stated that bees need a fully functional immune system in order to sterilise food for the colony.
Cedric Alaux had this to say on the matter:
'...we found that bees fed with a mix of five different pollens had higher levels of glucose oxidase compared to bees fed with pollen from one single type of flower, even if that single flower had a higher protein content. Bees make glucose oxidase to preserve honey and food for larvae against infestation by microbes - which protects the hive against disease. So that would mean they have better antiseptic protection compared to other bees, and so would be more resistant to pathogen invasion...'
In addition to this research it was also discovered that when bees were fed on a five-pollen diet they were able to produce far more body fat when compared to a group of control bees eating pollen from only a single plant species. This evidence further indicates the importance of a more robust immune system as the insects were then able to produce more of the vital anti-microbial chemicals within their bodies.
David Aston, who chairs the British Beekeepers' Association technical committee, described the finding as "very interesting" - particularly as the diversity of food available to UK bees has declined.
He said,
‘...If you think about the amount of habitat destruction, the loss of biodiversity, that sort of thing, and the expansion of crops like oilseed rape, you've now got large areas of monoculture; and that's been a fairly major change in what pollinating insects can forage for. As a consequence, bees often do better in urban areas than in the countryside, because city parks and gardens contain a higher diversity of plant life...’
‘...If you think about the amount of habitat destruction, the loss of biodiversity, that sort of thing, and the expansion of crops like oilseed rape, you've now got large areas of monoculture; and that's been a fairly major change in what pollinating insects can forage for. As a consequence, bees often do better in urban areas than in the countryside, because city parks and gardens contain a higher diversity of plant life...’
Two years ago, scientists in the UK and The Netherlands had already reported that there was a relationship between the reduction in the diversity of pollinating insects and a decline in the diversity of plants that they fed on. This is a particular problem in the countryside where agricultural crops are grown predominately on mono-cultural production systems.
The commercial value of bee pollination is huge, in fact recent figures show that it is worth an estimated at £200m per year in the UK and $14bn in the USA and governments are already investing huge sums in research to find out what is behind the decline. So while Colony Collapse Disorder has been blamed on various factors such as the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), the varroa mite, pesticide use, climate change and the loss of genetic diversity among commercial bee populations, perhaps the best way forward is to allow native wild flowers back into the landscape by the better management of our field margins, hedgerows and ‘set-aside’ farm land.
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5 comments:
Not surprising at all...I've been gently preaching (if that's not oxymoronic) to gardeners suggesting that they mix a variety of heritage and native plants in with whatever new hybrids they have going on, to encourage as much biodiversity in habitats as possible. Here in North America, honeybees aren't native and are so disease susceptible...plus add to that the problems of monoculture, pesticides, etc etc...it's a hard row for them to hoe. Fly. You know what I mean.
Hi Simon, thanks for your message on my 'plot.' I'm glad to see people focusing on the honeybee die off problem. I can't think of anything with a more immediate and dangerous effect on our planet! and yet sometimes it seems like there is no
serious research being done on it... Jodi has the right idea, just wish that individuals like her could make a bigger difference.
G'day Simon,
Australia is the only country which has not been affected by CCD of bee populations. We do not have the Varroa mite yet as well. We export bee colonies to California for the almond industry even though the bees die from the mite soon after they have done their work.
Interesting post
cheers Ian
This totally makes sense to me. Thank you for sharing the information, Simon!
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