 |
June 22 - 28 marks National Pollinator Week, when we “appreciate the hard working animals that help pollinate over 75 percent of our flowering plants and nearly 75 percent of our crops,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Flowering plants require pollination, the transfer of pollen grains between flowers of the same species, in order to reproduce and bear fruit. Birds, bees, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles and even the wind transfer pollen among flowers.
Honeybees in particular are central to pollination. Farmers frequently rent commercial honeybee colonies: bee colonies are driven to the farms, allowed to pollinate crops and then removed. Commercial colonies can be driven around the country to pollinate multiple farms.
One of the primary causes of honeybee death worldwide is Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), characterized by a nearly complete absence of adult bees with little or no dead bees in and around the colony. Without adult bees to work, the colony is doomed to collapse.
Scientists are unsure as to the causes of CCD. A 2007 study found a correlation between collapsed colonies and infection with the Israeli acute paralysis virus, a virus of unknown origin first identified in Israel and found throughout the world. However, researchers did not show that the Israeli acute paralysis virus causes CCD.
In February, scientists in Spain reported two cases of apparent CCD associated with a parasite infection (the microsporidium Nosema ceranae). No other significant pathogens or pesticides were detected, but this is not proof that Nosema infection causes CCD.
Perhaps a combination of factors, such as poor nutrition, pesticide exposure and mite and viral infections leads to CCD.
Why would a promising young scientist leave the lab to spend a year working for the United States government? Daniel Gorelick is here at the State Department trying to figure that out.