Saving the Bees from Viral Scourge...

In the year between April 2017 and April 2018, beekeepers in the United States lost an estimated 40 percent of their colonies, a major issue for both agriculture and the environment, as bees are crucial pollinators to keep plants growing. A major cause of colony collapse in bee populations is the mite, Varroa destructor, which can transmit at least ten unique viruses to the bee colonies it invades. The viruses V. destructor transmits, including Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) and Lake Sinai Virus (LSV) cause an interesting slew of symptoms: from physical deformation of the wings, which prevents proper flying, to an inability to recall migratory paths back to the hive. Bees that leave the colonies fly off and never return. Pesticides have been used to attempt to curtail the effect of the mites on bee populations, but the parasites have rapidly developed resistance to these pesticides, and continuing to develop and deploy stronger pesticides has high economic and environmental costs. However, new research shows a promising novel approach to protecting bees from these destructive viruses. Scientists at Washington State University and the United States Department of Agriculture recently published a paper in Scientific Reports that could change the landscape of protecting bees and perhaps eventually many other species from viral disease. 

The research shows that extracts from mushrooms, in particular the mycelial tissue of common wood conk mushrooms, significantly reduced viruses in honeybee colonies. The experiments used extracts from two species of wood conks, the red reishi and the amadou, both of which have been used by humans for medicinal purposes for many thousands of years.  In the field study, a small amount of one of these mycelial extracts was added to the sugar water commonly fed to honeybees by beekeepers. Colonies fed reishi extract exhibited a 79-fold reduction in Deformed Wing Virus and a 45,000-fold reduction in Lake Sinai Virus, two major bee viruses, compared to control colonies. Though the mechanism behind these antiviral properties is not yet understood (this is the first research ever to identify a compound with antiviral properties in bees) the urgency of declining bee populations has motivated the scientists who performed this research to establish a non-profit focused on spreading this information and making mushroom-supplemented bee feeders available to the public. The goal is that all of us can help save bees by installing a bee feeder, similar to the already popular hummingbird feeder, in our own backyards.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32194-8

~ Lisa Manzanete