Colony collapse disorder News

A recent report in the New York Times says that honeybee populations continue to suffer significant decline with over 40 percent loss of beehives.

Geneva - A new report on honey bee and pollinator decline indicates a “sixth major extinction” of biological diversity is currently underway, caused by habitat loss, pollution, pest invasion, and disease, leading to ecosystem havoc vital to human livelihood.

Scientists in the US have tracked down the working agent in the catastrophic Colony Collapse Disorder- RNA viruses. These viruses have been shown to be transmissible within related species like bees, bumblebees and wasps.

It’s been nearly four years since beekeepers around the country began reporting unusually high losses of otherwise healthy hives. Adding to the mystery, the hives were abandoned, leaving behind honeycombs, immature bees, and occasionally a live queen.

The global decline of bee populations is said to have dramatic consequences for our food production. Research now shows that agriculture is largely unaffected by this phenomenon.

The U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) believes there is a connection between colony collapse disorder of bees and pesticides used in crops. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is refusing to show the documents about this connection.

In time for National Pollinator Week, biologists have completed an online effort to compile a world checklist of bees. Researchers say the checklist will "act as a taxonomic ‘Rosetta Stone’."

A survey of the health of honey bees released on Tuesday revealed how the insect's numbers dwindled and crops were in danger in the past year.

A cooperative research effort searching for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder in honey bees may have found a culprit, the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV). this is the first time that IAPV has been found in the U.S.

The biggest threat to our food supply is on us. The disease that is slowly but surely killing off honey bees in North America and in fact the entire world could soon change the way we eat.