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??
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