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Missing Bees Mystery Solved? Asian Parasite Is Killing Western Bees

planetark.com — A parasite common in Asian bees has spread to Europe and the Americas and is behind the mass disappearance of honeybees in many countries, says a Spanish scientist who has been studying the phenomenon for years.

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  • 4Ajax, on 10/11/2007, -0/+90Best news is that it is preventable/curable and it is cheap! Hooray for the honey bees!
    • erhizad, on 10/11/2007, -9/+2This "cure" manufacturer just hit the jackpot
      • CompIsMyRx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13What jackpot? The cure costs $2.80 per year per hive. It's a cure so cheap even the most run-down beekeepers can afford it.
        • DiamondIce, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2No *****, $2.80 a year for a cure, or $200 a year for a new package of bees. It's not a tough choice.
    • SocialPoison, on 10/11/2007, -10/+7Yup! All we have to do is invade Asia!
    • faskill, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9But.... but... global warming!
      No, but seriously, what about all the stories that preceded this one dubbing "global warming" the culprit? Digg me down for not going with the status quo, but at least give me some sort of answer.
      • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1what stories? link one, would ya? it sounds like a lot of you were led down a primrose path by fox news or am radio.
    • pushmouse, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Hooray for the honey bee and us. Without the honey bee our many of our crops would be lost to. We kind of depend on them.
    • caponumen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Obviously a right wing cover story. Everyone knows it is directly related to Chupacabra caused global warming. The manbearpig is the only animal smart enough and strong enough to save us from certain disaster. Please watch a crappy concert or something to help........ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra
  • ChazHollywood, on 10/11/2007, -24/+89You mean it was nature and not my gas guzzling SUV? But they told me that is was Global Warming that was killing the little bees. I wish I hadn't traded in my Hummer for that Prius now...
    • Neiby, on 10/11/2007, -8/+44Global warming and cell phones. I guess all those knees were jerking for nothing.
      • Kallius, on 10/11/2007, -8/+9Don't be too hard on the global warmists. Much like sharks can't help biting, they can't help the knee jerks. It's in their nature.
      • Starflyer59, on 10/11/2007, -7/+5Hey Kettle, maybe you should wait for some other qualified people to research this finding before you declare it the cause?
    • austin63, on 10/11/2007, -4/+17And smokers, its always those dirty smokers.
      • unjustend, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3As a reformed smoker, I have to say that my contribution to global warming better kill something cool besides myself!!!

        ****Shakes angry threatening fist in the air****
    • Rolf58, on 10/11/2007, -15/+11Yes now you can keep your "fine" habits.... all other environmental problems are also a hoax from the crazy people that think that the planet can't hold the burden of the SUVs and the American level of consumption of our natural resources.
      MORON !
    • Yuusaku, on 10/11/2007, -8/+10It really is ridiculous how overblown the global warming problem has been made out to be. Yes pollution is bad; it gets in the rivers and in the air and kills people, and we always need to watch out for pollution. But, global warming, I believe, is the most overblown and overhyped thing I've heard. The fact is that there are as many "causes" for global warming as there are for cancer. In other words, we don't have a clue.
      • inhaler, on 10/11/2007, -5/+4Overblown right? When top NASA climatologists say we have "10 years left of status quo" emmissons and polluting, I'd have to say it's alittle more serious than just an inconvenience.
        • scottmillerinva, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4i'd say keep reading because NASA scientist don't even agree with each other... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18964176/ "The head of NASA said he was not sure global warming was a problem and added that it would be “arrogant” to assume the world’s climate should not change in the future"
        • wendelgee2, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6He's a political appointee, not a climatologist. What the hell does NASA have to do with climate anyway? Can we get some statements from the USGS?
        • fossilnews, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4I'll make that scientist a very large bet - to be paid off in 10 years + 1 day - that his prediction is wrong.
      • wendelgee2, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4Except for a handful of dissenters, the scientific community agrees on the causes, and they study this stuff for a living.
        I think what you meant is that you, me, and the dude up the street don't have a clue...scientists, they have lots of clues.
        • c5kirk, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3True... and at one point in history except for a handful of dissenters, the scientific community agreed that the world was flat and the sun revolved around the earth... the "scientific community" is never wrong eh?
        • wendelgee2, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4What?
          "By the 11th century, Europe had learned of Islamic astronomy. Around 1070 started the Renaissance of the 12th century, featuring an intellectual revitalization of Europe with strong philosophical and scientific roots, and increased appetite for the study of nature. By then, abundant records suggest that any doubts that Europeans may have had in earlier times in regard to the spherical shape of the Earth were generally eliminated." - Wikipedia.
          Mind you, 11th century is well before we even had the word "science" or "scientist" in the English language (William Whewell coined the word in 1833.) It was the religious community that staunchly contended that the earth was flat despite all evidence to the contrary.
          In conclusion, you're a ***** idiot. Do your homework next time.
      • jerbaker, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2So your solution is to do nothing. Brilliant. Were you a deer in a past life? Killed by a car with bright headlights by any chance?

        That's like saying you should stop inhaling benzene and smoking because there are so many things that cause cancer that you just can't be sure which is causing YOUR cancer. Retard.
    • wendelgee2, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9Blaming colony collapse on global warming really was grasping at straws. People need to be more careful and measured when they claim causation unless they want their cause to look totally ridiculous.
      • jerbaker, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2"People need to be more careful and measured when they claim causation unless they want their cause to look totally ridiculous."

        You mean like assuming this answer is the cause without further study?
      • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2WHO blamed global warming? bill o'reilly? 'cause i didn't hear one person in my little liberal bubble blaming global warming.
    • yomomo, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2You can also start using roundup again.
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3I'd heard the Cell Phone theory -- which sounded fishy to me.

      The Global Warming theory, I didn't hear. Must be another straw man. I'm sure there was a Chewbacca theory as well.

      In the future, nothing can be proven in science, because there will always and forever more, be the Chewbacca theory to make it sound ridiculous.
    • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1who told you all this? y'all seem like a fox news/am radio demographic. did fox news tell all-yall it was global warming, 'cause i didn't see a word about global warming killing bees in my liberal media sources.
  • Infantrydude, on 10/11/2007, -11/+37So will the alarmists admit they were wrong on this...........
    Malthus....
    Charles Dawson.... (OK cheap shot)
    Rachel Carson.........
    Paul Ehrlich....
    Anti- Saccharine zealots......
    Anti-Alar nuts........

    Nope guess being an alarmist means never having to say you were wrong
    • xGORDOx, on 10/11/2007, -6/+10Seriously? This isn't Global warming or George Bush's fault?
      Well, why is this even news then?
      How did this even get to the front page of Digg?
    • johnpaul191, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5well, they have not tested any bees in the United States yet, and the whole thing is technically still just a theory.
      hopefully it is something easy to get past. unfortunately having to treat bee hives, as cheap as it may be, is not good for wild bee hives. that's still pretty important for people not living near farms or bee keepers. flowers, trees, backyard gardeners are generally visited by wild bees.
    • Rolf58, on 10/11/2007, -9/+1Yes now you can keep your "fine" habits.... all other environmental problems are also a hoax from the crazy people that think that the planet can't hold the burden of the SUVs and the American level of consumption of our natural resources.
      MORON !
      • xGORDOx, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Is that spam? That is the same response you gave in the comment thread before this one.

        So...basically you're saying it could still be George Bush's fault?
        (for the record, no one mentioned SUV's in this comment thread)
  • techweenie1, on 10/11/2007, -14/+31In other news, ManBearPig is still on the loose.
  • vroom101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+20Here are the links to the Reuters article, "Asian parasite killing Western bees: scientist"
    http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1826459120070718?sp=true -- on one page
    http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1826459120070718
  • mathewsjw, on 10/11/2007, -6/+19Asian bee? Commie plot!
  • erhizad, on 10/11/2007, -8/+13We will see if Real Time on HBO acknowledges this. Since this was Bill's pet project all last year. Thank god, I didn't get rid of my SUV, and throw away my palm treo, and withdrew my petition to NASA to dim the sun to make sure the bees could find their way back!!
    • Rolf58, on 10/11/2007, -11/+1Yes now you can keep your "fine" habits.... all other environmental problems are also a hoax from the crazy people that think that the planet can't hold the burden of the SUVs and the American level of consumption of our natural resources.
      MORON !
    • inhaler, on 10/11/2007, -7/+5Guys, just because it may not be global warming that's killing the bees, doesn't dimish the fact that global warming is a real problem. Sure, the bees aren't related to it, but the arctics ice sheaths continue to melt.
      • xGORDOx, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4...and refreeze, and melt and refreeze, and melt and refreeze, just like it has for billions of years.
        • erhizad, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2There is no such thing as global warming, chuck norris was cold and turned up the sun.
  • deadowl, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Does anyone remember Buzz Buzz from Earthbound? He'll always be missed.
    • fredricko, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Oh, the tragedy of being mistaken for a dung beetle...
  • TheNapalm, on 10/11/2007, -7/+0oh no now honey prices will skyrocket
    • azzageddi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Actually, they are more likely to fall. More bees = cheaper honey.
  • ronaldinho, on 10/11/2007, -10/+2Why does this feels like European colonization of America when they invaded the land and spread small pox and other diseases they brought over to the native Americans?
    • Akaji, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11It doesn't. Possibly because you weren't there, and thus didn't know what it felt like. It's also possible that it's due to the fact that this isn't anything like it.
  • allaboutdatiki, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5"Treatment for nosema ceranae is effective and cheap -- 1 euro (US$1.4) a hive twice a year -- but beekeepers first have to be convinced the parasite is the problem."

    So what's the treatment, Kenneth?
  • MrMysterious, on 10/11/2007, -8/+25It's like Pearl Harbor...except with bees.
  • Idugdigg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9Another theory points a finger at mobile phone aerials, but Higes notes bees use the angle of the sun to navigate and not electromagnetic frequencies.
    • wendelgee2, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5That theory was debunked forever ago. The authors of the paper came out publicly to say "that's not what our paper was about, quit ***** citing us!"
      • Idugdigg, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Its hilarious that enviromentalists blame it on cell phones. The average person wouldn't know that bees use the sun to navigate, so its notable and and makes the global warming and anti technology alarmist look like morons.
  • LiquidAardvark, on 10/11/2007, -5/+0I hope this helps. I don't know if could eat cereal without honey.
    • MrB398, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1I bet the honey nut cheerios bee is feeling better to. Now he doesn't have to make all the honey.
  • seleneg08, on 10/11/2007, -5/+6I think this is a publicity stunt for Jerry Seinfield's Bee Movie.
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Or maybe we can blame the HamasTV Murder Bee and invade Syria.
  • darny, on 10/11/2007, -8/+2Lesson to be learned from the honeybee story:

    Environmental problems getting you down? Blame it on the Chinese!!
  • NeoNevermore, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6Possible solution: Outsource bees from Asian countries and bring them here. It's not like outsourcing is a new topic for us; seems to be a trend.
    • icepick314, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4we did that with African honeybee and look what happened....
      • DestroyFascism, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2yeah you guys got stung bad on that one.......
        • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Yeah, poor central and south Americans got stung on that one. And a couple people in Texas and Arizona.

          That's why I love the North East. No big bugs, and a nasty winter that kills 80% of insects every year.
  • bm8631, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1First order of business, free honey for everyone! Yay Mayor Bee! Mayor Bee! Mayor Bee!

    /Family Guy quote
  • orelses, on 10/11/2007, -5/+1are killing or is killing?
  • boredsam, on 10/11/2007, -9/+2GODDAM MONGORIANS!!! ARWAYS TEARING DOWN MY ***** WAWR!!
    • negativefx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2wow, that was totally applicable
      • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Maybe you'd cheer up if you had some of his City Chicken.
  • killcops, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11i was totally just thinking last night that we hardly hear about the beepocalypse anymore
  • funkmachine, on 10/11/2007, -6/+4The parasites must be Muslims.
  • acid0426, on 10/11/2007, -11/+14***** Asia. Anyone notice how much ***** happens because of them? Avian bird flu, missile crises, poisoned toothpaste, bad tech support, need I go on?
    • RDRP, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1Yellow Peril
    • eggloaf, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6It makes me want to cry myself to sleep on my asian-made mattress, clutching my asian-made teddy bear to my asian-made shirt...
      • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1heh. i'm sure acid's computer was made in one of the many american computer factories.
    • digfan, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3That's what the media wants you to think. Keep hating. The more you hate the easier you are to control.
      • jerbaker, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1So you mean the more I hate Chinese products the easier it is to coax me into going with the globalization flow and have me purchase Chinese goods? Does that even make sense to you?

        What the corporations want you to buy into is the myth that globalization is good for everybody, and they want you to accept it as inevitable.
  • DestroyFascism, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4beepocalypse or beeocalypse?
    • Jasdar, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2It must be beeocalypse, I'm fairly certain that beepocalypse has to do with horns.
  • OilPriceGoingUp, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1That's great news.... but .... now trucks will have to deliver the treatment for nosema ceranae to the bee keepers which will drive up the demand for fuel which will cause oil prices to go up! DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • wendelgee2, on 10/11/2007, -3/+8I think I've seen 4 bees this summer...it's been creepy. Glad to have them back swarming around garbage cans and stinging babies just like in the good old days.
  • XYZ1, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2A couple of months ago one scientist claimed the death of the bees is related to mobile phones which are affecting their navigation.
  • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Slightly OT mini-rant: True Vegans would be against the exploitation of the honeybees for human needs! Where do they stand on a cure being found for honeybeekeepers to use? To them this would be like curing Mad Cow disease.
  • wiremonkeymommy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2encouraging news, and my original thought was that it pesticide or GMO related, hope to see more corroborated information on this, a cheap cure would fantastic, but, reality rarely is so generous
  • davidkeithjones, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Too many Asian jokes possible! Cannot execute! Kernal Panic!
  • guzziguy, on 10/11/2007, -8/+6Ah...DARN.....
    Can't blame Global Warming anymore. I thought Al Gore was having them destroyed as not to disrupt his daughter's outdoor wedding in Beverly Hills with all the little folk. I did hear that Mike Moore was planning a new film to expose that the White House actually knew that it was a Parasite causing this and going to war in Iraq was just a smoke screen. It's called Barney and Me. The movie poster has M. Moore sniffing Barney's butt. And BTW has anyone said anything to this WHALE that because of his LACK of SELF CONTROL, he's driving the cost of health care through the roof. Let's see a film of what his daily intake of food is....I think the only 911 is what the scale says when he gets on.
    • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1i'm so glad you had a chance to choose our president two times in a row. let the high iq folks win a couple times now, will ya?
  • yomomo, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1And I have been telling everyone it was due to pesticides and global warming.
    • almalax19, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Guess you learned your lesson about believing everything you read on the internet. Hopefully you wont go around spreading FUD next time.
  • Rolf58, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1Yes, now all global warming deniers can keep their "fine" habits.... all other environmental problems are also a hoax from the crazy people that think that the planet can't hold the burden of the SUVs and the American level of consumption of our natural resources.

    Bastards & Morons !
    • guzziguy, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Ah.....you left out the Chinese and the fine earth loving people of India...didn't ya? They're never part of the rants, only the Americans who have install more pollution equipment on our factories then anybody. Why do you think companies like BASF have closed down everything in the USA and moved to China???? Because ANYTHING GOES there. Be fair Children....
      • Rolf58, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1The Americans still have the highest "per capta" consumption of natural resources, the highest CO2 output AND a government that keeps denying the treats related to the Global Warming and mass extinction of fauna & flora.
        If you want to talk about corporate responsibility, ask yourself why the industries of the developed countries place their "dirty" factories in China, India and in Latin America, avoiding their own environmental regulations!
        • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4If you're so worried about CO2, please... stop breathing. Do your best to reduce YOUR CO2 output!
    • mike17032, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2This is the 3rd time in this very thread he has posted the exact same thing. Report him for spamming.

      He is also a ***** crazy tool who has no concept of how the world really is.
  • Ibox, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1What no pics?
  • senatorpjt, on 10/11/2007, -1/+14I just wish this ***** would mutate and start infecting hornets and mosquitoes instead. Their extinction wouldn't bother me one bit.
  • flightgamer, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4Darn !!!
    I just finished making my home "Honey Bee Neutral".
  • hokkos, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Solution ? Buy some insecticide ?

    I'm not sure, as if Gaucho ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaucho_%28insecticide%29 ) is innocent.
  • Hooner, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1So it is not my cell phone? I thought the previous theory was that cell phone signals were disrupting bees homing signals. If it is not cell phones, then where did this misconception originate from?
    • mike17032, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2From anti-corporate idiots who use any disaster to push their agenda.
    • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1it was a theory. no one reputable said it was the only possibility or even the most likely. there was one really bad news article that really pushed that completely unstudied idea, and it got a lot of traction. you can blame that one bad article, but please don't blame environmentalists and other scientists like everyone else on this thread. this new idea is still only a theory, too -- we'll only know when beekeepers stop losing their bees when they use the treatment this guy recommends.
  • vegasbright, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2I thought it was MANBEARPIG's cellphone?
  • mattyz0r, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3I believe the 100 or so scientists that say its pesticides and not the one Spanish scientist.
  • MattInChicago, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3So is this a bee story or another 'Made In China" story?
  • Massif, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1To the bee-mobile!
  • ttravis84, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5*****... do research on what genetically modified pollen does to a bee's stomach lining. It abolishes their immune system thus leaving them prone to any infection. Albert Einstein was not lying when he said "If they bees dissapear from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years left to live".
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Sounds like a type of "bee AIDs" -- which would mean we are mistaking the most common opportunistic infection for the actual problem.
    • mike17032, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Of course it is, its always the evil GM plants that are at fault right? Even when evidence points other directions?
    • Gabberwok, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2What is it about genetic modification that would cause bee's to react poorly to plants? You know that we've been genetically modifying plants for 10,000 years now, right? The only difference is now we know what we're doing....
      • karel747, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2...And using chemicals for-which we have no idea what their long term affects are. 10,000 years of artificially selection is completely natural...If there's any defect, it will slowly disappear from the gene pool. 100 years of using mystery chemicals to see which one works best it not natural, and unpredictable. (e.g., DDT affecting bird eggs). Who know what kinds of havoc pesticides and artificial fertalizers are causing to a plant's genome...as well as ours.
    • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1einstein didn't say that. you read it in the bees and cell phones article, right? what reputable source do you have for that quote?
  • THEMACGOD, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3No... It's Global Warming... Duh.
  • knobtwiddler, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2yea.. one scientist. i'm not convinced. there were quite a few studies that found the bees digestive systems were overrun by various infections, not just one.

    but ok.. we can all rejoice now. oh I know, lets spray the entire western hemisphere with fungicide!!! hurray for the scientist!
  • VitriolAndAngst, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I'd heard the Cell Phone theory -- which sounded fishy to me.

    The Global Warming theory, I didn't hear. Must be another straw man. I'm sure there was a Chewbacca theory as well.

    In the future, nothing can be proven in science, because there will always and forever more, be the Chewbacca theory to make it sound ridiculous.

    >> I thought it was either a disease (including parasites) or something being done to crops. Very happy that they've found the reason. We don't need anything else jeopardizing crops yields.
  • MacSpoofing, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Why is the media so God-damn stupid? Ever since I heard about the bee disappearance its been nothing but a series of asinine speculations peddled as news by the media. How many in depth pieces were written blaming cellphones, or global warming?
    • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1um, one? i literally saw zero about global warming and one about cell phones, and even that one was not "in depth." in fact, it was terrible, with a fake einstein quote of all things.

      maybe i'm just less informed than you (i doubt that)?
  • dualaudi, on 10/11/2007, -4/+5HAHAHAHA pwned you global warming nut sacks..
    • queenstarsha, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2who blamed global warming? show me one scientist who said it was global warming.
  • Urusai, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2First the chestnut blight, now this...we need to export a rice fungus to Asia to teach those ***** a lesson.
    • digfan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I think we've sent enough disease invfested blankets to native americans.
      • jerbaker, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Took care of that problem didn't it?
  • timtimes, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Is this proof as solid as the proof of WMD's?

    Enjoy.
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