News: Southscapes Spring 2009

Research

BUZZ KILL —
Grant Funds Multi-university Research to Find Solutions to Colony Collapse Disorder

By April Sorrow

The current economy has many homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages so they won't lose their homes. But what if your home just collapsed one day? That's exactly what happened to half the bee colonies in 36 states across the nation last winter.

The bee equivalent of a housing meltdown is caused by colony collapse disorder, a condition that was first identified in November 2006. CCD expresses itself in bee colonies where foragers have abandoned the nest, leaving behind large quantities of untended young bees and honey.

Using a $4.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, researchers hope to find solutions to CCD.

"Our long-term goal is to restore large and diverse populations of managed bee pollinators across the U.S. to sustain natural and agricultural plant communities," said Keith Delaplane, an entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Delaplane is directing a four-year Coordinated Agriculture Project that is part of a National Research Initiative funded through the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.

Honeybees are essential as they pollinate about a third of the U.S. food supply. They pollinate 130 different fruits, vegetables and nuts.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers and extension specialists representing 17 states are working on the project. The 19-member team includes specialists in epidemiology, virology, pathology, ecology, toxicology, bee biology, apiculture and integrated pest
management.

"We are trying to look at CCD from every angle, address it with research and deliver the knowledge to clientele groups who need answers," Delaplane said. "Expectations are high."

Normally, weakened bee colonies are robbed clean by neighboring bees. But when a colony is decimated by CCD, the untended honey may remain untouched.

Scientists believe a combination of factors contribute to the phenomenon including pesticide exposure, environmental and nutritional stresses, new or reemerging pathogens and a new virus that targets the bees' immune systems.

"At this point it's more forensic science than experimental science," Delaplane said. "We have a set of symptoms but we don't understand cause and effect."

Initial research is focused on determining which factors are contributing causes of CCD, either individually or in combination.

The scientists hope to have some practical answers for beekeepers and farmers who rely on bees for pollination. Plans include…

• developing best management practice guides,
• breeding strains of bees with genetic resistance to parasites and pathogens,
• improving the regulatory framework for better protection against pathogens, pests and parasites and
• creating Web-based distribution of science-based information on bee health and CCD.

The research team is also laying the groundwork for a bee stock registry.

Although honeybee pollination is an essential part of crop production, the impact on human beings is not a matter of life or death, Delaplane said.

"More human calories are supplied by wind-pollinated cereals like wheat and rice," he said. "However, when economies improve we see an increase in the consumption of meat and dairy products and bee-pollinated fruits like melons and berries."

Top left: Honeybee lab technician Robert Collom (left) and Keith Delaplane test honeybee response time using a device Collom built. When the light switch panel is turned on at certain time intervals, the nozzle blows a scent at the bee. Following in Pavlov's footsteps, Delaplane then tests to see if the bees remember that they get sugar water after they smell that particular scent (top right).

Bees wait their turns in drinking-straw-and-electrical-tape cages. About 200 to 400 pounds of sugar were used per week to run this test. When the test is completed, the bees are released.

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