09/11/07 New lead in bee death investigation

It's a solid lead but it's not the answer to bee colony collapse. I'm Bill Scott and Today's Idaho Ag News is next. Researchers say they still don't know what is causing the die off of honey bees in the US but they have a lead. USDA researcher Doctor Jeffrey Pettis says the lead is a virus called Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus which has been found in some of the collapsed bee colonies. But Dr Pettis says if this virus is involved in the deaths it's probably not alone. PETTIS "We have a parasitic mite called Varroa that we know can cause virus replication in bees. Pesticide exposure, poor diet and things like that can also cause problems so what we're recommending at this time is for beekeepers to do the things they know how to do which is manage mites, pests and pathogens, keep the hive as healthy as possible and that's the only recommendation that we have at this time." Pettis says a lot more research is needed to pin down the cause of the bee deaths. The Israeli virus had not been seen in the US before but along with some other issues it was the found consistently in the colonies that were in poor health. PETTIS "That still does not show that is a causative factor. In any case things are coming together such as Varroa mites and maybe a pathogen like a virus in this case and interacting to cause a problem." Honeybees are essential to American agriculture providing pollination to more than 90 commercial crops in the US. Nearly half of the states are reporting substantial bee losses in the past two years. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott