Mysterious Bee Killer Part III
Posted in Environment by George
According to a recent article in the LA Times, a fungus might be the bee killer that has wiped out the 2.4 million commercial bee colonies that have been lost since this past fall.
Researchers have been struggling for months to explain the disorder, and the new findings provide the first solid evidence pointing to a potential cause.
But the results are “highly preliminary” and are from only a few hives from Le Grand in Merced County, UCSF biochemist Joe DeRisi said. “We don’t want to give anybody the impression that this thing has been solved.”
Other researchers said Wednesday that they too had found the fungus, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, in affected hives from around the country — as well as in some hives where bees had survived. Those researchers have also found two other fungi and half a dozen viruses in the dead bees.
This still looks very preliminary. Stay tuned.
May 1st, 2007 at 3:02 pm
This is cell phone industry’s way of denying that they’ll be responsible for the downfall of all life on earth. Hire some conveniently cheap scientists to offer an alternate theory.
I call conspiracy and muddling the waters.
Can’t wait for the iPhone though.