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<LI class=MsoNormal style="COLOR: black; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1"><B>DeRisi
Research Results Published in June 2011 Issue of PLoS - - </B>Why not use the
same detection tools that find illnesses in humans to search for the cause of
colony collapse disorder (CCD) in honey bees? This is the very question
that Christi Heintz, executive director of Project Apis m. (PAm) asked Joseph
DeRisi, PhD, and his team at University of California, San Francisco. So
began a partnership that joined a non-profit honey bee research organization
dedicated to honey bee health, a renowned molecular biologist and biochemist
and one of North America’s largest commercial beekeeping
operations.<o:p></o:p></LI></UL>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN style="COLOR: black">Project Apis m. initiated and contributed towards funding
the year-long study which was recently published in the June 2011 issue of the
Public Library of Science (PLoS). “Dr. DeRisi is tops in his field and we
convinced him to transfer his expertise to honey bees,” said Heintz. When
initially approached, DeRisi wasn’t fully aware of the extent to which colonies
are transported coast-to-coast to pollinate crops and that commercial beekeepers
were losing more than 30% of their colonies each year. However, what
DeRisi did know very well is what makes <I>us</I> sick. His lab at UCSF
works on the causes of malaria, SARS and other ills. DeRisi is a recipient
of the MacArthur Award, dubbed the ‘genius’ award, given for exceptional
creativity and aptitude for making future advancements and important
contributions in their area. Heintz remarks, “We needed nothing short of a
genius like DeRisi to work on CCD in honey bees”.
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN style="COLOR: black">What did DeRisi find in hives? First, a baseline had
to be established. “We brought a quantitative view of what real migrating
populations look like in terms of disease,” DeRisi said. “You can’t begin
to understand colony die-off without understanding what normal is.” After
following 20 colonies in a commercial beekeeping operation of more than 70,000
hives, DeRisi and his team found 27 unique viruses, including 4 viruses that
were previously unknown. In addition to these viruses, were 6 species each
of bacteria and fungi, 4 different mites and a parasitic fly called a
phorid. What is the next step? PAm plans to further fund Dr. DeRisi
now that these pests and pathogens have been identified and how these findings
can be applied in practical terms for beekeepers. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN style="COLOR: black">
To read DeRisi’s full article in PLoS, </SPAN><A title=http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=szfc96bab&et=1105889191333&s=829&e=0014nfxD_PnSuqTXBNGar-h-KQ3VAYOIo9oxQnXcq6VUkUYYSRHg199JlJDAeyWDD9l5c6Jozc08rKnGuWbQFJ81ttThgTiNhIQCCJodXWKi5J32oh-tMPxAsVbpHNdma6lJAOOCroMr0kPiUqV2afj4e48cbWNw_v2qxwoXLLTCzEjZSHie3G98g== href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=szfc96bab&et=1105889191333&s=829&e=0014nfxD_PnSuqTXBNGar-h-KQ3VAYOIo9oxQnXcq6VUkUYYSRHg199JlJDAeyWDD9l5c6Jozc08rKnGuWbQFJ81ttThgTiNhIQCCJodXWKi5J32oh-tMPxAsVbpHNdma6lJAOOCroMr0kPiUqV2afj4e48cbWNw_v2qxwoXLLTCzEjZSHie3G98g==">click
here</A><SPAN style="COLOR: black">. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoListParagraph style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">·<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 7pt; COLOR: black"> </SPAN><B><SPAN style="COLOR: black">Bee Informed Platform “BIP” Created with Help from PAm
</SPAN></B><SPAN style="COLOR: black">- - The new partnership will be led by
Dennis vanEngelsdorp, senior extension associate at Penn State’s College of
Agricultural Sciences. PAm assisted vanEngelsdorp with the initial
organization of the BIP and PAm’s executive director, Christi Heintz, is on the
BIP stakeholder advisory team - both BIP’s and PAm’s goals are the same – to
improve honey bee health. VanEngelsdorp and his team will use an
epidemiological approach to identify bee management practices which beekeeper’s
can employ. “At the same time,” VanEngelsdorp adds, “we want to increase
the reliability of production in pollinator-dependent crops and increase the
profitability of pollinator-dependent producers.” The five-year, $5
million program is being funded by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and
Agriculture. In addition to outreach and education, BIP will monitor
colony health, pests, pathogens, pesticides, and environmental changes such as
climate change and the continuing loss of natural forage. An admirable goal of
the BIP will be the creation and maintenance of honey bee web accessible
database. PAm is excited to be involved in this
partnership. <BR> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoListParagraph style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">·<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><B><SPAN style="COLOR: black">Winter Losses Still Hovering
at 30% - - </SPAN></B><SPAN style="COLOR: black">Honey bee colony losses for the
winter season remain steady. Total losses from managed colonies were 30%
according to the annual survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America
(AIA) and USDA-ARS. This echoes past surveys done in the last four
years: 34% for the 2009/2010 winter, 29% for 2008/2009, 36% for 2007/2008,
and 32% for 2006/2007. The annual online survey, covered the period from
October 2010 to April 2011. PAm’s scientific advisor, Jerry Hayes, along
with Dennis vanEngelsdorp and Jeff Pettis, led the preliminary survey in which
20% of the estimated number of beekeepers in the U.S. responded.
Beekeepers who responded lost an average of 38.4% of their operation, much
higher than the 13% that would be acceptable. No industry should bear
these continued losses. PAm’s research direction continues to be committed
to decreasing these statistics on winter honey bee
losses. <BR> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">Project Apis m. <BR>1750 Dayton
Rd. <BR>Chico, CA 95928 </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
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<H3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">Visit us on
the Web at </SPAN><A title=http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=szfc96bab&et=1105889191333&s=829&e=0014nfxD_PnSuohM2Srny8PGjC9aWhFpU68so_rv60JuOvH5T19MEms3nX1biBdQryTjrDFP0itm6wxgBkdA7mnzTwItvLIZEJcuxzEohEP-6s5ibeTBYgZbg== href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=szfc96bab&et=1105889191333&s=829&e=0014nfxD_PnSuohM2Srny8PGjC9aWhFpU68so_rv60JuOvH5T19MEms3nX1biBdQryTjrDFP0itm6wxgBkdA7mnzTwItvLIZEJcuxzEohEP-6s5ibeTBYgZbg=="><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">www.ProjectApism.org</SPAN></A><o:p></o:p></H3>
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