Back in 2007, Wired Magazine mused:
It’s only slightly less ridiculous than the other bee killing theory that year – cell phones.
I published a story about the loony idea that was proposed by some researcher in Europe about “cell phone radiation may be killing bees”. I pointed out that it was garbage then, as it is now. I thought it was so ridiculous that I made some spoof artwork on it:
Fast forward to 2012, it looks like the culprit for colony collapse disorder has been found and it has nothing to do with global warming. The best part? Some scientific serendipity.
“Zombie” Fly Parasite Killing Honeybees By Katherine Harmon, Scientific American Blogs
A heap of dead bees was supposed to become food for a newly captured praying mantis. Instead, the pile ended up revealing a previously unrecognized suspect in colony collapse disorder—a mysterious condition that for several years has been causing declines in U.S. honeybee populations, which are needed to pollinate many important crops. This new potential culprit is a bizarre—and potentially devastating—parasitic fly that has been taking over the bodies of honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Northern California.
John Hafernik, a biology professor at San Francisco State University, had collected some belly-up bees from the ground underneath lights around the University’s biology building. “But being an absent-minded professor,” he noted in a prepared statement, “I left them in a vial on my desk and forgot about them.” He soon got a shock. “The next time I looked at the vial, there were all these fly pupae surrounding the bees,” he said. A fly (Apocephalus borealis) had inserted its eggs into the bees, using their bodies as a home for its developing larvae. And the invaders had somehow led the bees from their hives to their deaths. A detailed description of the newly documented relationship was published online Tuesday in PLoS ONE.
…
The team found evidence of the fly in 77 percent of the hives they sampled in the Bay Area of California, as well as in some hives in the state’s agricultural Central Valley and in South Dakota. Previous research has found evidence that mites, a virus, a fungus, or a combination of these factors might be responsible for the widespread colony collapse.
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Here’s the paper, it is fully open and free for viewing:
A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis
Andrew Core1, Charles Runckel2, Jonathan Ivers1, Christopher Quock1, Travis Siapno1, Seraphina DeNault1, Brian Brown3, Joseph DeRisi2, Christopher D. Smith1, John Hafernik1*
1 Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, United States of America, 2 Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America, 3 Entomology Section, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
Abstract
Honey bee colonies are subject to numerous pathogens and parasites. Interaction among multiple pathogens and parasites is the proposed cause for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a syndrome characterized by worker bees abandoning their hive. Here we provide the first documentation that the phorid fly Apocephalus borealis, previously known to parasitize bumble bees, also infects and eventually kills honey bees and may pose an emerging threat to North American apiculture. Parasitized honey bees show hive abandonment behavior, leaving their hives at night and dying shortly thereafter. On average, seven days later up to 13 phorid larvae emerge from each dead bee and pupate away from the bee. Using DNA barcoding, we confirmed that phorids that emerged from honey bees and bumble bees were the same species. Microarray analyses of honey bees from infected hives revealed that these bees are often infected with deformed wing virus and Nosema ceranae. Larvae and adult phorids also tested positive for these pathogens, implicating the fly as a potential vector or reservoir of these honey bee pathogens. Phorid parasitism may affect hive viability since 77% of sites sampled in the San Francisco Bay Area were infected by the fly and microarray analyses detected phorids in commercial hives in South Dakota and California’s Central Valley. Understanding details of phorid infection may shed light on similar hive abandonment behaviors seen in CCD.
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Here’s the culprit exiting a dead bee, figure 2C from the paper:
It appears the commercialization of honeybees, and the tendency to truck them around the nation for pollinization contributed to the spread of the parasite. The researchers mapped the process:
Read the full paper in web browser here or as PDF here.
This episode reminds me of the wailing over toads being killed due to “global warming” only to discover later it was a parasite…or how about Penguins? Remember that one? Nutty Story of the Day: “Global Warming” is Killing the Penguins in Antarctica. Turns out there was no connection at all. The next time we see some journalist going off on global warming causing something to die, please remind them of these blatant failures in correlation is not causation.
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What I can’t figure out is how anyone can blame global warming for much of anything like this. I mean, consider we are talking about something like a 0.1 degree change per decade in average annual temperature. A 0.1 degree change in annual temperature isn’t going to even be noticed by biology. The biosphere is much more likely to notice the more drastic change in solar UV radiation that happens over time.
Solution: do a Pascal on them, and breed smaller flies to bite ’em.
Hmmm… scientists playing God again? Wanted to kill the ants but instead are killing the bees? Dunno. Any one see the eerily similarity to some climatologists to geo-engineer the atmosphere in the name of controlling AGW? All in common, they are messing in areas they should know better.
http://web.biosci.utexas.edu/fireant/FAQ.html
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/acid-test-for-evil-twin-of-climate-change-20120107-1pp64.html
“They” are at it again. When your funding is running short, tell a tall tale.
regards from a truly shamed Aussie..
Nut you’re missing the point :
Unprecedented Apocephalus borealis migration caused by global warming spreads CCD to California. !!!
LOL
i read a great article abut bee hives, it said that the temps inside the bee hives are critical to keep the bees healthy and free of pests etc, the ones most people use are not correct for this and they keep being opened up thus lowering the temps( temperature again!!)
the article suggested another type of hive where this did not happen, ok perhaps they were just trying to sell the new type of hive.
Interesting to note that problems with bee keeping goes back thousands of years according to Greek records or rather written evidence from the times.
just a story,
a friend of mine went out to Dubai and became bee keeper to the Sultan of Dubai, he was then known as Bee man, once a month the Sultan would have a meal with all the workers, so Bee man, Sheep man, Goat man, Fish Man, Horse man and others would all be there and slowly work their way around the table to talk to the Sultan and keep him informed, always being called by their animal title.
Bee man was there to supply Royal jelly to the Sultan and family.
Bees are not the only pollinator available to plants just the most obvious. I would miss the honey though.
This is just a new threat to the bees, we already deal with varroa and good bee lines will clean house when an outbreak occurs (this leads to a pile of dead bees and larvae in front of the hive). There are a few bacterial infections that can cause situations that look like colony collapse and require the hive to be purged. And given that we kept much fewer hives than a commercial operation a sudden queen death especially in winter when laying is at a minimum, can cause the workers to die off mostly in the field leaving an empty hive maybe with some drones. Another aspect is the increased use of pyretrins by municipalities which kill everything in the insect world.
And as far as temperature is concerned plotting honey bee activity levels which correlate well with waggle dance pheremone concentration, follow the same pattern as the temperature both in a general sense, and a daily variance. Bottom line bees like the weather to be a bit dry and bit on the warm side. In Statesboro our activity typically peaks mid to late august about the same time the temperatures do, 100-110 Farenheit.
so the rest of the places with CCD where this fly does NOT exist?
ie UK.
Bayer admitted it KNEW before releasing its imidacloprid and nicotinoid based sprays that it would kill bees insects in general AND small mammals and bats.
they then advised farmers to spray, late in the day., so the bees were less affected, problem?
the chem is still on the flowers and on the pollen and nectar sp they still cop a dose.
i find it puzzling that at a whisper, of varroa possible in aus thanks to migrating asian bees( and government inaction/ idiocy pulling funding to eradicate) usa said it wont import our queens to replace the dead.
and to the Q above. re Cold weather, no some bees do not cope well at all, some, however like european bees do survive over winter in spite of snows etc, aus bees cope with over 40C and down to zero and below. theyrve very adaptable given good shelter and water and a food source thats safe.
ps they do not like powerlines, they get bitey:-) and they will avoid hives with a mobile ph placed on it, they DO use their own personal magnetic system to navigate etc.
OK. don’t think that this lets you [snip] off the hook. I have a new theory. The reason why this parasite is able to thrive is because of global warming. So it is still global warming that is indirectly killing all the bees. Any don’t give me any nonsense about it stopped warming over a decade ago because global warming has now been re-branded as ‘climate change’. So it was warming, now it has stopped, and that is a climate change right? This is what caused the parasite to attack. It all makes perfect sense, at least as much sense as anything else in this global warming narrative.
[The d-word is unnacceptable on this site ~ jove, mod]
Richard @ur momisugly 2.02 am:
Sultan? Dubai has a Sheikh (quite a few actually).
Yeah and the virus would not have existed or become virulent without global warming. Natural variability does not explain it, otherwise we would have seen these kinds of kills before. If you plot the poor bees dying over the last century you clearly see a hockey stick.
@DEEBEE
you didn’t even bother to read it – it’s a parasitic fly, not a virus.
If you plot the poor bees dying over the last century you clearly see a hockey stick.
A hockey stick – really? Are you sure you’re not exaggerating the shape of the graph? Reference please.
It might surprise you to realise that the number of beehives in the world has also increased dramatically over the last century (you might also like to call that graph a hockey stick). According to the FAO statistics the increase from ~1960-1990 was from just over 40 million to 60 million hives. Is it any wonder we see more deaths when we have given parasites and diseases an abundance of their host insect in handy groups of colonies.
From the abstract:
“Microarray analyses of honey bees from infected hives revealed that these bees are often infected with deformed wing virus and Nosema ceranae. Larvae and adult phorids also tested positive for these pathogens, implicating the fly as a potential vector or reservoir of these honey bee pathogens.”
(My bold)
That, for me, was the really exiting finding by the researchers, in view of the fact that non-airborne pathogens need to come from somewhere in the first place.
It is pleasing that a serendipitous find produces such fine research.
Can we now say that biology has beaten climate science hands down?
So with all this talk about declining bee populations, nobody actually went out to look at the dead bees. So much for science eh. Its more about what *could* be happening and less about what *is* actually happening these days. No doubt some model somewhere had the climate related “answer” well before it was actually discovered.
It is unlikely that this fly is the only “killer” of honey bees. I blame the industry, specifically “the commercialization of honeybees” as the article notes.
I had a natural bee colony establish itself in my house. After calling three bee keepers the resounding response was “call an exterminator”. Seems as though bee keepers don’t like natural bee colonies because they produce less honey and could “infect” their other bee colonies (which were brought in by the bee keepers). Is this same process hitting natural bee colonies or just commercial bee colonies?
For two rainy years, honeybees were a rare sight in my garden and clover lawn. During last summer’s drought, they were back in force. It might be that my little visitors were from hives far away and found plenty of pollen closer to home during the wet years. I’ve no clue, really.
Speculation is not proof… why is that so hard to understand?
Science research by accident is more convincing than the automatic statement.Global Warming caused it.
It is the beeginning of a solution of the problem.Stop those parasites.
So now that another unsupported claim is shot down.What is the next one?
Annie,
I believe Sultan is correct.
We’re getting well off the topic of global warming but to briefly answer Steve’s comment on bees in your house:
Yes, many beekeepers are skeptical of feral hives because of the likelihood that you will be importing disease into your home apiary. More than that, however, is the financial risk of collecting a swarm from the physical structure of someone else’s house. I’d bet that about half of the people you called would have happily come to collect a swarm that had landed in a tree or even set up house in a garden shed.
Collecting the bees from a swarm is only part of the job. When the bees are established inside the walls of your house, the beekeeper (or exterminator) must also get to all the wax, stored honey and pollen and get that out as well. Otherwise, it will rot or attract mice, neither any good for your house. When the whole colony is exposed, the job is easy. When you have to break through drywall, worry about wires, worry about debris that falls out of reach, deal with the homeowner’s expectations about then repairing the drywall, … It’s just too much work and risk for the average beekeeper. (Depending on jurisdiction, it may also require special licensing and insurance.)
Your local bee club probably has a list of people who are willing to attempt a swarm collection. But even among that list, collecting from a residence is a specialized and expensive skill.
re “Is this same process hitting natural bee colonies or just commercial bee colonies?”
How would anyone know? Feral colonies are, by definition, unmanaged. Most feral colonies are still reeling from the importation of tracheal and then varroa mites. Even finding a feral colony is very difficult these days. Telling if they are also being affected by phorid flies is beyond our current capability.
Wayne (January 7, 2012 at 12:02 am), that was my thought too.
Apparently, for some reason, Apocephalus borealis is just now learning that (European) Honey Bees make acceptable hosts, or there is some as yet unidentified variable that is also coming into play in the CCD equation to account for this seemingly recent development.
The release of several species of Phoridae to combat fire ants was done because, it is believed, these parasites are host specific. Apparently several species of Phoridae do prey on native Texas ants, but not – it is thought – on the invasive fire ants, hence the release of the tiny flies that do prey on the fire ants.
But we know that Apocephalus borealis preys on both Bumblebees and Paper Wasps and now (European, imported) Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), which have been present in N. America for just a few-hundred years, not that long in the overall scheme of things.
Not all Phoridae are completely host-specific, it would appear.
Because Apocephalus borealis was found in a large percentage of studied colonies, I think the researchers have found a very likely suspect to account for most CCD, since the tiny fly is also a vector of a couple viruses (as Viv Evans notes just above), themselves Agents of Change, above and beyond the direct mortality caused by the emerging instar.
Good to see WUWT reporting on the bee phorid is a largely logical and that many of the comments range from reasonable to highly knowledgeable (e.g. Mike Rossander). The only important lapse I see is that the CAGW crowd will have no problem hyping this as ‘it’s worse that we thought’ proof. They have been able to do similar mischief with any number of stories with less potential (e.g. the black-tip shark) and most of the MSM reporting on this story is already highly inaccurate and hysterical.
No report on CCD of honey bees seems to recognize the genetic bottleneck of honey bees the world over. It is past time to back-cross to some wild species on a massive scale to reintroduce some genetic diversity and hopefully some genetic resistance to the new modern world of globalization of pests.
nevket240 says:
January 7, 2012 at 1:27 am
“They” are at it again. When your funding is running short, tell a tall tale.
“Scientists label this acid trend “the evil twin of climate change”.
“And they are concerned that shell-thinning could threaten”
Shell thinning was EXACTLY the same argument made to ban DDT. All the need to do now is show that AGW causes cancer…
Steve P says:
January 7, 2012 at 8:01 am
Apparently, for some reason, Apocephalus borealis is just now learning that (European) Honey Bees make acceptable hosts…
The most reasonable explanation is contamination at supplier sites, due to cross infection, spreading disease to bee colonies.
Unfortunately, the preoccupation with “scientists” to explain everything in terms of “climate change” as a requirement to gain funding has corrupted scientific investigation along the lines of “political correctness”.
By seeking to explain everything in terms of “climate change”, we have neglected to look beyond our noses for the true causes. As a result, billions are wasted on solutions that provide no value. Any we wonder why the economy continues to decline.