Go figure: bees and neurotoxins don't mix

Results are in from a pesticide ban in Italy, and it turns out that the mysterious colony collapse disorder that was decimating honeybee populations was the disorienting result of neurotoxins in "nicotine-based neonicotinoids" pesticides. 

Yet another example of the unintended consequences of a chemical policy that assumes things are safe. 

Honeybee hyperbole revealed

The Minneapolis Star Tribune took time to debunk some of the more popular myths around Colony Collapse Disorder and this author must report that he's been outed. Cell phones? Nope. Four years of human life to go? Not so much. Here's a few of the juiciest items debunked:

A small German scientific study looking at a specific type of cordless phones and homing systems of bees exploded over the Internet and late night television shows. It morphed into erroneous reports blaming cell phones for the honeybee die-off, which scientists are calling Colony Collapse Disorder.

The scientist who wrote the paper, Stefan Kimmel, e-mailed The Associated Press to say that there is "no link between our tiny little study and the CCD-phenomenon ... anything else said or written is a lie."

Moldy would like to officially say: oops. One other popular myth is the quote attributed to Albert Einstein that humanity has four years left to live if bees die out.

It's wrong on two counts.

First, Einstein probably never said it, according to Alice Calaprice, author of "The Quotable Einstein" and five other books on the physicist.

"I've never come across it in anything Einstein has written," Calaprice said. "it could be that someone had made it up and put Einstein's name on it."

Second, it's incorrect scientifically, Pettis said. There would be food left for humans because some food is wind-pollinated.

See this post for more on the latest scientific study of CCD and the more reasonable hypotheses. And keep checking those facts!

Update 2: Colony Collapse Disorder a parasite?

A scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, has isolated a parasite that may be responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder. In a few preliminary tests of local hives, he found that the presence of the parasite - Nosema ceranae - was strongly linked to diseased or dead bees. This is mixed news, since the parasite is known to cause colony collapse in as little as a week, but may also be controlled by an existing antibiotic.

As with most things science, however, the tests only validate the hypothesis - they don't prove the cause. Dr. DeRisi believes more study is necessary before concluding this parasite is responsible:

The results are "highly preliminary" and are from only a few hives from Le Grand in Merced County, UCSF biochemist Joe DeRisi said. "We don't want to give anybody the impression that this thing has been solved."

Other scientists have also found the parasite in bee hives, but among several other potential pathogens. One scientist felt it was going too far to label Nosema ceranae THE cause:

N. ceranae is "one of many pathogens" in the bees, said entomologist Diana Cox-Foster of Pennsylvania State University. "By itself, it is probably not the culprit … but it may be one of the key players."

Let's hope they find the solution soon, as more than a quarter of U.S. bee colonies have already suffered collapse.

Update on Colony Collapse Disorder

The New York Times has an update on the scientific pursuit of an explanation for Colony Collapse Disorder. There's no mention of the recent experiment in the UK linking cell phones to bee disappearances, but the story includes a graphic of the affected states as well as discussion of the possible causes.

Scientists seem to be dismissing genetically modified crops as a potential cause, but are concerned about the types of food given to bees, such as corn syrup, that may come from genetically modified corn. Other potential causes include some sort of bee pathogen (such as a virus or bacteria) or pesticides in the neonicotinoids family. The French government banned a pesticide, called imidacloprid, after scientists linked it with the so-called "mad bee disease" that struck France in the 1990s:

The chemical, while not killing the bees outright, was causing them to be disoriented and stay away from their hives, leading them to die of exposure to the cold, French researchers later found. The beekeepers labeled the syndrome “mad bee disease.”

The French government banned the pesticide in 1999 for use on sunflowers, and later for corn...

...Among the pesticides being tested in the American bee investigation, the neonicotinoids group “is the number-one suspect,” Dr. Mullin said. He hoped results of the toxicology screening will be ready within a month.

For more information on the progress in diagnosing CCD, check out the CCD Working Group and their preliminary report on the disease from January.

Colony Collapse Disorder update: Are we dialing the bees down?

The UK newspaper The Independent has a story about a "limited" study of the effect of mobile phones on bees. Scientists tried placing mobile handsets near beehives and found that bees will not return to a hive with a handset nearby. The study's results are anecdotal at this time, but the lead scientist says this is a tantalizing "hint" of what may be causing the colony collapse.

These results should be taken with a grain of salt, however. Since European countries are more compact, their mobile phone networks tend to be more pervasive than in the United States, which makes me wonder why - as the article states - CCD has not affected the UK yet. It would, however, explain why CCD has primarily affected the Eastern United States.

Update 5/2: This intriguing hypothesis is apparently complete bubkus. My apologies!

No buzz, no buds: bee colony collapse could jeopardize many foods

You've probably not given much thought to the role honeybees play in bringing foods to your plate (other than honey), so you may be surprised to hear that "every third bite" of food you take has likely come from a food pollinated by bees. With that in mind, the colony collapse disorder striking bees across the United States and now Europe (destroying 70% of bees) could precipitate an agricultural disaster.

The issue is significant enough to have the federal government involved, with the Senate Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture holding hearings last week to gather more information about the phenomenon. The environmental blog Celsias has an excellent account of the news to-date, with some of the theories about the cause. Potential culprits range from a insect neurotoxin used as a pesticide, genetically modified crops (such as Bt corn), poor bee nutrition, an unknown bee pathogen, limited genetic diversity of bees, parasites or mites. The Congressional Research Service has already put together an excellent brief on the Colony Collapse Disorder, including theories on the cause and the immense agricultural value at stake.

It's worth noting that folks with an agenda are quick to take advantage of the issue. The Organic Consumers Association focused on pesticides as the potential cause, not a surprise for an organization working to advance organic agriculture (disclosure: I heartily support organic agriculture, but it's interesting nonetheless).

Anyway, let's hope the scientists can figure this out fast, since there's more than $1 billion in agricultural products (food) at stake.