Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Breeding 'Super-Hygienic' Bees ... What Could go Wrong

As scary or funny as 'super bees' sound, it may be the answer to a serious problem. Bees are more important then most people realize for the environment, and they are fighting a loosing battle for survival. These 'Super-Hygienic' bees could reverse that trend. They were bred specifically to fight back against the mites that are killing them. The new bees have shown promising signs of success.

http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009-10/super-hygenic-bees-take-colony-collapse-fight-offensive (via http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/86333)

"For almost two years, the honeybees that support almost all human agriculture have fought a plague right out of a sci-fi movie. Varroa mites, a deadly parasite, have hid in the labyrinthine combs of beehives, feeding off the juices of still-living insects, and causing the the problem we know as Colony Collapse Disorder.

To help our bee allies fend off the alien invaders, the Agriculture Research Service division of the Department of Agriculture has created a new breed of super-vigilant bees that will take the fight to the mites.
...
To combat the mite problem, the Agricultural Research Service took that natural hive cleaning instinct and bred it into overdrive. The newly bred bees show a increased aggression in their mite hunts, team up with each other to bite through the egg caps, and rooted out and eradicated the mites where ever they hid.
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