Articles shine light on The Bee-ig Issue

Two major Canadian news outlets recently published articles on a Current Biology study that found honey bee populations are not, in fact, on the decline (find them here and here). I was glad to see that The Toronto Star and the CBC presented well balanced arguments over the issue of the decline:  while the study may well be correct in concluding that managed honey bee populations are on the rise, the issues of wild pollinator habitat destruction, fruit and nut monocropping, and spreading bee disease still stand. I’m concerned that with the increasing demand for managed pollination for the multi-billion dollar western U.S. fruit and nut industry, we may see the honey bee become Monsanto’s next copyright.

New link to CCD

Researchers in Spain believe an Eastern variant of the Nosema fungus is responsible for CCD. A number of Spanish bee colonies exhibiting characteristic symptoms of CCD regained their health after being treated with Nosema antibiotics. Read more here.

Bees in Peril

Check out this report from Florida’s Winter Park (April 9, 2009)

U.S. Review of Colony Collaspe Disorder

Published 2007, an interesting read on the current understanding of CCD.