{"id":2572,"date":"2010-01-21T11:34:04","date_gmt":"2010-01-21T15:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=2572"},"modified":"2010-01-21T11:34:04","modified_gmt":"2010-01-21T15:34:04","slug":"mites-and-poor-diet-contribute-to-honeybee-decline-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2010\/01\/21\/mites-and-poor-diet-contribute-to-honeybee-decline-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Mites and poor diet contribute to honeybee decline in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two timely reports have surfaced this week regarding the decline of honeybee populations in Europe, and France has taken action in an attempt to curb the falling numbers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A recent study linked
\nhoneybee health and plant biodiversity<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

In a study<\/a> published in the Journal of Apicultural Research<\/em>, scientists have found that managed honeybee populations across Europe have dropped an average of 20 percent over the last 20 years, with England being hit the hardest at a 54 percent decline.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simon Potts and colleagues from the University of Reading analyzed several patterns across 18 countries in Europe and found the mite Varroa destructor<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u2013a parasite responsible for transmitting infections in honeybee colonies\u2014infested virtually every honeybee colony they examined.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In another study<\/a><\/span>, scientists from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Avignon reported a possible dietary connection between the strength of the honeybee immune system and plant biodiversity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cedric Alaux, who co-authored the study published in Biology Letters<\/em>, told BBC News<\/a><\/span>:\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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We found that bees fed with a mix of five different pollens had higher levels of glucose oxidase compared to bees fed with pollen from one single type of flower, even if that single flower had a higher protein content.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bees use glucose oxidase to sterilize colony and brood food in an effort to make the hive resistant to infection. As Alaux told BBC, a more diverse diet, therefore, might help a honeybee colony protect against pathogen invasion.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

These studies emerge amidst France\u2019s recent decision<\/a><\/span> to sow nectar-bearing flowers alongside 250 kilometers (155 miles) of roadway in an effort to boost honeybee populations. If the results from the three-year test are positive, France is prepared to extend the flowers along the country\u2019s 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) network of non-toll roads.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more at BBC<\/a> <\/span>and\u00a0the Telegraph<\/a>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/aussiegall\/<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/p>\n

Potts, S., Settele, J., Neumann,, P., Jones, R., Mike A Brown, M., Marris, G., Dean, R., & Roberts, S. (2010). Declines of managed honey bees and beekeepers in Europe Journal of Apicultural Research, 49<\/span> (1) DOI: 10.3896\/IBRA.1.49.1.02<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two timely reports have surfaced this week regarding the decline of honeybee populations in Europe, and France has taken action in an attempt to curb the falling numbers.\u00a0 A recent study linked honeybee health and plant biodiversity In a study published in the Journal of Apicultural Research, scientists have found that managed honeybee populations across Europe have dropped an average…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10,2,48],"tags":[287,461,462,64,463,464],"class_list":["post-2572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation","category-ecology-in-policy","category-research","category-ecology-and-society","tag-biodiversity","tag-europe","tag-france","tag-honeybees","tag-mites","tag-population-decline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}