Colony Collapse

Submitted by Schuyler, class of 2012:

If you’re not one of the many followers of the Doctor, and don’t believe that the bees are returning to their home planet Melissa Majoria*, you may be inclined to listen to this theory for the disappearance of our bees.

Since 2006, scientists have noticed a significant colony collapse across the United States and nobody had a reason for the decreased population. Recently, entomologists have identified new possibilities for the collapse: a fungus and a virus have been under close watch. Researchers suspect that the virus and the fungus are inhibiting the bee’s nutrition in their gut.

What puzzles researchers about this collapse is that the bees don’t die in the hive, they fly away from the hive and die alone. Dr. Bromenshenk and the Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center noted that the virus-fungus infection was found in each dead colony. Neither of the infections can kill the bees on its own, but when combined, the bees don’t stand a chance.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=Bees&st=cse

* From the BBC’s television series Dr. Who, S4 E12.