There's Hope For The Honeybees!

There's been a puzzling mystery the past few years, that being, the disappearance, death, of honeybees.

Who killed the honeybees?

Suddenly, the Bees Are Simply Vanishing

Why the Honey Bees are Dying

Now, if this trend continues, there could be a profound impact on our ecology, and economy, even to the point of life-and-death, for some.

But, just this week, a ray of hope has cracked through;

New clue found to disappearing honey bees

Researchers have a new clue to the collapse of honey bee colonies across the country — damage to the bees' internal "factories" that produce proteins. Theories about the cause of bee colony collapse have included viruses, mites, pesticides and fungi.

The new study of sick bees disclosed fragments of ribosomal RNA in their gut, an indication of damage to the ribosomes, which make proteins necessary for life, according to a study in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[snip]

The sick bees suffered an unusually high number of infections with viruses that attack the ribosome, the researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.

[snip]

The researchers said the varroa mite, which was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 1986, is a carrier of picorna-like viruses that damage the ribosomes.

Lert's hope this pans out.

Then again, the bees, or, a certain bred of them, may be fighting back, which we wrote about recently;

Now It's The Honeybees!

Buck up there, honeybees ...