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face=Arial color=#000000 size=2><STRONG><U><FONT
color=#3f803f>AGRICULTURE:</FONT></U><FONT face=Arial size=3> USDA study links
pathogens, bee deaths </FONT></STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#5f5f5f
size=3><I>(Thursday, August 13, 2009)</I></FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2><B>Sara Goodman, E&E reporter</B></FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial
size=1>Pathogens are more common in honeybee hives suffering from a mysterious
and deadly bee illness, colony collapse disorder (CCD), according to a federal
study released yesterday.</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=1>Scientists from the
Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service and Pennsylvania State
University examined 200 factors -- from pesticides and viruses to nutrition --
among 91 bee colonies from 13 apiaries in Florida and California, where many
beekeepers keep honeybees during the winter.</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial
size=1>Overall, the study found hives with CCD had greater numbers of pathogens
-- including bacteria, microparasites and viruses. Fifty-five percent of CCD
colonies were infected with three or more viruses, compared to 28 percent of
non-CCD colonies, it found.</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=1>The study is the
most comprehensive to link the number of pathogens and other stresses such as
diet with the disorder, the scientists said. But the work does not reveal
whether increased pathogens caused the bee die-off or resulted from it. It is
still unknown what caused the bees to become infected with so many
pathogens.</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=1>Scientists have been at a loss to
explain what has been causing adult bees to mysteriously disappear from their
colonies since 2006. They have looked at a variety of possible causes, including
new and re-emerging pathogens, pesticides, habitat loss, pests that infest
beehives, commercial bee management practices and nutritional stress.</FONT>
<BR><FONT face=Arial size=1>No single pathogen emerged more than others in the
study, and there was no association between increased pesticide levels and bee
disappearance, the scientists found. Because of this, the results do not point
to a single cause of the disorder, but they do highlight future research areas
by showing which causes are less likely, noted Agricultural Research Service
entomologist Jeff Pettis.</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=1>The honeybee
industry is valued at more than $15 billion, with nearly 130 crops dependent on
pollination. Pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of 75 percent of
the world's flowering plants, most of which are crop species. USDA estimates a
third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is
responsible for 80 percent of that pollination.</FONT> <BR><A
title=http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006481;jsessionid=FD7EE265CBA1AC5323F39D61A272CDAF
href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006481;jsessionid=FD7EE265CBA1AC5323F39D61A272CDAF"><FONT
face=Arial color=#a00000 size=1><B><U>Click here</U></B></FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=1> to read the study.</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial color=#a00000
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Gill Sans MT" size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive
Director<BR><B>Pollinator Partnership </B><BR>423 Washington Street, 5th
floor<BR>San Francisco, CA
94111<BR>415-362-1137<BR>LDA@pollinator.org</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#0000ff size=4 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="14"><B><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></B></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"></B><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">www.nappc.org</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="12"><B><I>National Pollinator Week is June 21-27, 2010. <BR>Beecome
involved at <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></I></FONT></B></DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="fde4a48a7e5cfea4ad5ccacb118b410a"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>