the Scientists of Newcastle University have found a possible cause of the mysterious extinction of bees and the disappearance of colonies of the honey insects in the UK. According to the experts, arthropods were victims of a viral disease that causes paralysis. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Zoologists have determined that in the period from 2007 to 2017, the number of colonies affected with chronic bee paralysis, has grown exponentially. According to data from 24 thousand beekeepers in 2007, the disease was recorded only in Lincolnshire, but a decade later she was struck by 39 of the 47 counties of England and six of the eight counties of Wales. Thus even more often there are clusters of the disease in which flare close to each other.
the Symptoms of chronic bee paralysis include abnormal tremors, inability to fly and the loss of hair on the abdomens. Infected insects die within weeks. Although the researchers still don’t know why a bee colony is vulnerable, there are data that associate the flash with the import of Queen bees. On apiaries owned by beekeepers purchasing Queens from other countries, the incidence is two times higher.
