Bees all over the world have been dying off at an alarming
rate, due to some sort of virus that spreads among hives like wildfire. They
have no antibodies to fight it off. The vaccine was developed in Germany and
had been tested there and proven effective.
Watching a show on PBS called “Impact”, about
important
stories around Montana - and the world. It has been known for some time
now,
that a virus that targets bees has been spreading like wildfire, and our
bee
population has been declining at an alarming rate. Bees have no immunity
(which is very odd, because honey is very anti-viral), and when the
virus finds
its way into hives, entire hives have been killed off. Bees are the most
important pollinators we have, and without pollinators there will be no
food.
No vegetables, no fruit, not animal feed... nothing.
Now, scientists, I believe in Germany, have created a
vaccine for bees! Not injected into the
bees them selves, but into the royal jelly that is fed to the queen. The queen
herself does not become immune to the virus, but instead passes the immunity
on to her offspring. A bee’s life cycle is very short, and by the time the
previous adult workers die off, the young bees will be adults and will have
immunity against the virus!
Apparently this has been tested, and it works.
I
let the dandelions grow all over my yard in the spring, because the
bees need them until other flowers begin to bloom, but each year there
are fewer and fewer bees. The
neighbor’s apple trees used to be covered with bees every spring, but
for the past three years has had only a few bumble bees, very few
flowers and little fruit. It's frightening. Without bees to pollinate
crops, we
will all die of starvation.
I wonder how long it will take to get the vaccine to the US (if they even consider using it), and how
long will it take for the bees to recover??
