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[PRRI Secretariat]

Topic:
Reports in the press mention GM crops as a possible reason for the recent collapse of honeybee colonies

Read the article from the German weekly magazine DER SPIEGEL, the magazine maintains also a website in English: Der Spiegel Online International http://www.spiegel.de/
 
Electronic Source:
Are Gm Crops Killing Bees?
by Latsch, G. (2007)
Der Spiegel Online International - March 22, 2007
Spiegel Online for free:http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,473166,00.html

[David Tribe]

Some more articles on CCD are at
http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2007/04/bt-insect-protection-of-crops-and-honey.html

[Klaus Ammann]

The assumption, that GM crops could be the cause of CCD is not substantiated in scientific documentation.

There are a number of different hypothesis as the cause of the CCD, but GM crops are highly improbable and therefore ruled out in the search.

Podcast for the public
Pennsylvania State University http://podcasts.psu.edu/node/265

CCD has happened before but the reasons are still unknown, see a text from the Oregon State Beekeepers Association:
Bee Culture's Beeyard
Author: Dr. James E. Tew, State Specialist, Beekeeping, The Ohio State University
http://www.orsba.org/htdocs/download/Dtew.htm

As a proof that GM crops cannot play a role in CCD, see also some scientific publications from times, when GM crops did not exist yet, at that time the researchers from the Ohio State University Agricultural Research and Development Center called the phenomenon ‘Disappearing Disease’:
Disappearing Disease .3. A Comparison of 7 Different Stocks of the Honey Bee (Apis-Mellifera)
Authors: Kulincevic, J.M., Rothenbuhler, W.C., & Rinderer, T.E. (1984)
Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Research Bulletin, 1160, pp  1-21  https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/handle/1811/24687

[Klaus Ammann]

Latest updates in peer reviewed journal articles from two of the most renowned bee scientists: GM crops are again not mentioned as a cause of CCD.

Insecticides And CCD, Part I
Author: Sanford, M.T. (2007)
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), an Update. Bee Culture, May,  pp  17-19
http://www.beeculture.com/storycms/index.cfm?cat=Story&recordID=541

Entomology: The Case of the Empty Hives
Author: Stokstad, E. (2007)
Science Magazine 10.1126/science.316.5827.970, 316, 5827, pp  970-972
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/316/5827/970.pdf

There are more updates and recent reports, all are unanimously ruling out GM crops as a possible cause, or do not even mention the case at all:

Recent Honey Bee Colony Declines, CSR Report for Congress
Author: Johnson, R. (2007)
CSR Report for Congress, Order Code RL33938 pp 13 Washington
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33938.pdf

“Fall-Dwindle Disease”: Investigations into the Causes of Sudden and Alarming Colony Losses Experienced by Beekeepers in the Fall of 2006. Authors: vanEngelsdorp, D., Foster, D.C., Frazier, M., Ostiguy, N., & Hayes, J. (2006)
Electronic Source: Preliminary Report: First Revision, CCD Working Group Preliminary Report. Published by: Bee Alert Inc., Florida Dept. of Agriculture, Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture, USDA/ARS, 22pp 

Colony Collapse Disorder Investigated by Us Bee Researchers
Author: Norton, C. (2007)
American Bee Journal, 147, 3, pp  199-202

Imidacloprid as possible cause of CCD?
In France, the use of Imidacloprid was blamed for the cause of CCD and was therefore banned. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid_effects_on_bee_population
It’s of course difficult to be sure if this particular insecticide is the cause of the problem, it was banned in  France, but many different pesticides could cause this problem. The FAO website gives a list of relative toxicity of pesticides. http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0083E/X0083E09.htm
Its not sure if it’s still used in the US some insects might have developed a resistance to this pesticide. http://www.msstate.edu/entomology/v8n2/art06.html
A general overview on Imidacloprid-effects  can also be found on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid_effects_on_bee_population#column-one#column-one

[Klaus Ammann]

Recently, the main culprit causing CCD has been discovered: It is a virus with the name Israeli acute paralysis virus of bees (IAPV), it has been by genomic analysis strongly correlated with CCD. Vive la Science!

A Metagenomic Survey of Microbes in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder.
Cox-Foster, D.L., Conlan, S., Holmes, E.C., Palacios, G., Evans, J.D., Moran, N.A., Quan, P.-L., Briese, T., Hornig, M., Geiser, D.M., Martinson, V., vanEngelsdorp, D., Kalkstein, A.L., Drysdale, A., Hui, J., Zhai, J., Cui, L., Hutchison, S.K., Simons, J.F., Egholm, M., Pettis, J.S., & Lipkin, W.I. (2007)
Science, electronic prepring Science Express,  pp  1-4 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1146498v1

The abstract:
In colony collapse disorder (CCD), honey bee colonies inexplicably lose their workers. CCD has resulted in a loss of 50 to 90% of colonies in beekeeping operations across the United States. The observation that irradiated combs from affected colonies can be repopulated with naive bees suggests that infection may contribute to CCD. We used an unbiased metagenomic approach to survey microflora in CCD hives, normal hives, and imported royal jelly. Candidate pathogens were screened for significance of association with CCD by examination of samples collected from several sites over a period of 3 years. One organism, Israeli acute paralysis virus of bees (IAPV), was strongly correlated with CCD.

A general comment on the discovery:
Stokstad, E. (2007)
Genomics: Puzzling Decline of U.S. Bees Linked to Virus from Australia. Science %R 10.1126/science.317.5843.1304, 317, 5843, pp  1304-1305 http://www.sciencemag.org

[Ken]

I have one very old honey bee colony here in Southern Oregon.  The past few days I have become alarmed because I see some of the bees crawling around unable to fly back to their nest.  Upon inspection I have found they have lost a wing or partially lost a wing, and are therefore unable to get back to their nest.  I put one specimen in a clean glass jar and found it dead the next morning.  Many of those crawling around 'disappear.'  Maybe they get eaten by predatory ground based insects or maybe they just crawl off and die in the grass and rocks.  What can we do?  

[Andrew Apel]

"Scientists at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and from two universities have found a possible cause of the mysterious bee death phenomenon in North America: a virus brought over from Australia."

"Critics of genetic engineering had pointed to the cultivation of GM crops as a possible cause of bee death, but have not been able to demonstrate any correlation between the cultivation of GM crops and bee death."

From: http://www.gmo-safety.eu/en/news/587.docu.html

[Brian Johnson]

As a UK beekeeper I can say that we have been experiencing colony collapses much more frequently since varroa was introduced in the 1990s. Not many of my colonies have collapsed because of varroa directly - I keep mite poplns low - so I was interested in the discovery of the virus. I would be interested to know how the virus if transmitted.

No GM crops anywhere near UK colonies!

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