A group of scholars from the University of San Francisco would have identified the cause of the bee death that has dramatically affected the hives of Northern California over the past few years. The cause of the death of the worker bees and their removal from the hives would be a small insect capable of insinuating itself into their organism as a parasite.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
A group of scholars from the University of San Francisco would have identified the cause of the bee death that has dramatically affected the hives of Northern California over the past few years. The cause of the death of worker bees and their removal from hives would be small insect able to infiltrate their bodies like a parasite.
The insect in question, which responds to the scientific name of Apocephalus borealis, would be able to deposit their eggs in the abdomen of bees from honey, who would suddenly find themselves disoriented and would abandon their hive, only to die about seven days later. In the most serious cases, the phenomenon can affect entire hives, affecting not only thefood industry, but above all onecosystem and onenvironmental balance of the areas most intensely affected by the phenomenon.
The study in question was led by John Hafernik, professor in the Department of Biology at the University of San Francisco, and published in the journal Plos One. From it therefore emerges a new cause of bee die-off, which goes to join other factors previously identified, including contamination of the hives due to the use of pesticides and epidemics caused by mold, fungi, viruses and other parasites.
It is not yet clear to scholars whether the new parasite identified could be the only culprit in the death of bees or if its action simply contributes to exacerbating pathologies already present in insects, caused by the above factors. It seems that Hafernik's discovery took place entirely random, when, about three years ago, he noticed the presence of small specimens of Apocephalus borealis around a lifeless bee. An average of 13 fly larvae would emerge from each dead bee, ready to attack as many bees.
The insect believed to be responsible for the death of bees was already known by scholars as a parasite of the specimens of the hymenoptera family, better known as bumblebees, but it had never previously been associated with bee deaths. Experts established this congruence by analyzing the DNA of the parasites in question. The presence of the insect-parasite affects all of North America and it is feared that theepidemic, which so far has predominantly affected the California, may extend to other states, due to the frequent movement of hives by beekeepers. From the appearance of the parasite among the hives, in 2006, to date, the annual destruction of 30% of bee colonies in the worst affected areas of California. Previously, the figure was 15% and was linked to the use of pesticides and other diseases that most commonly affect hives.
The concern for the presence of parasites capable of attacking hives has recently also affected the European Union, which hopefully can intervene as soon as possible against any factor capable of causing the death of bees in European territory, among which are not excluded. the negative effects on these insects generated by the presence of GM crops and toxic agents in the environment, first of all pesticides, capable of undermining the health conditions of the inhabitants of the hives. It is therefore necessary to allocate new funds so that research can continue to deal with the question in order to find the solution.
Marta Albè
