Sniff This
A new breed of “super bee” has been bred by government scientists in a bid to tackle the honeybee epidemic.
“In an effort to stem a massive bee die-off, government scientists have developed a population of honeybees that can root out a main culprit in the epidemic—a parasite that feeds on pupae in nests and spreads viruses within hives,” reports Discovery News. “U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists hope the population of Varroa mite-detecting honeybees could potentially improve the health of the overall honeybee population. Domestic honeybee stocks have been waning since 2004 because of a mysterious illness scientists call colony collapse disorder, which causes adult bees to forsake their broods. During the winter of 2007, the disorder wiped out around 1 million colonies in North America.”
