Diseases , pests and the mystical phenomenon ofcolony collapse disorderpose a fearsome threat to the U.S. beekeeping industry and , in spell , to the $ 20 - billion - a - yr craw diligence that relies on insectpollination . Because of these increasing pressing , the rank of wangle bee colonies have plummet in recent years : On middling , apiarist are losing 30 percent of their colonies every growing season .
While the exact cause of colony collapse upset is unknown , researcher think it to be the outcome of a combining of factors , one of which is theVarroa destructor ( V. destructor ) mite , a pest introduced to the res publica in the late eighties . The Varroa mite , difficult to control because it has become pesticide resistant , aggress bees by sucking their blood , thus spread viruses among colonies and weakening single bees , making them susceptible to pesticide not intended to harm them .
Rather than relying on pesticides and antibiotics to control Varroa mites and related to diseases — a method acting that has become part of the problem — University of Minnesota entomologist Marla Spivak is supercharge effective strategies that help bees help themselves .
Spivak and her squad have received six Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grants since 1997 to support their work of showingbeekeepershow to name andbreed for hygienical bees — bee that are adept at spy infected young bee ( larva and pupae ) and quickly take out them from the nest before a disease or pest can get out of controller in a colony . “ We mostly explore way for bee to keep themselves healthy , using their own natural defenses so we can avoid chemical substance inputs , ” Spivak says .
Their research — now supported by a $ 500,000 MacArthur Foundation “ brainiac ” grant — has evidence that colonies bred for hygienical behavior have good electrical resistance to chalkbrood and American foulbrood disease , and partial resistor toV. destructor . Over time , the organization of disease - resistive bees has the potential to deliver commercial-grade - scurf beekeeper one thousand of dollars each year in treatment toll while reducing the environmental wallop of pesticide use .
Spivak ’s SARE - funded research also includes innovative sampling strategy for beekeepers to square up the extent of an infection in a colony , and therefore how much treatment might be needed .
After help three commercial - scale apiarist in Minnesota establish hygienical disease impedance in their colonies , Spivak and her squad are now working closely with some of the land ’s largest bee breeder to adopt the sustainable pesterer - management strategies that make sense for them , including breeding and sampling strategy . Many of the breeder with whom they are collaborate sell tabby bees throughout the country , give Spivak ’s team the chance to have widespread encroachment .
“ We need genetically diverse bee , ” Spivak say . “ That is the drift for me to work with bee breeders to assist them select for hygienical behaviour from among their genetically diverse , and try - and - reliable lines of commercial-grade bee . ”
While much of Spivak ’s inquiry focuses on the European - imported Honey bee — the primary dupe of colony collapse disorder — she and her colleagues have also turned their attention to the wide range of native bee species that are also embattled , yet help an authoritative persona in crop pollination . In 2010 , Spivak Centennial State - authored and SARE publish Managing Alternative Pollinators , a first - of - its - form technical guide for rearing and managing key alternative specie .
