Bees are way more important than many people realize. Honeybees are important poillinators. In fact, bees pollinate over 75% of the foods that we eat. Without bees, many of the foods that we eat would not be pollinated. Bees also produce honey, which is used to sweeten things.
Recently, scientists have discovered a new compound found in plants that may protect them from a virus. This type of virus is known as a varroa mite. Varroa mites are parasites that enter the larva of honey bees. This parasite is also known as the deformed wing virus. The parasites affect the development of the honey bees' wings, which affects their ability to fly. Other studies have found varroa mites to affect the bees memory and learning ability, thus causing them to not find their way back to the hive after foraging. Pesticides can be used to prevent and treat varroa mites, however, this is something that many beekeepers do not want in their honey. Instead, scientists looked for a natural compound that could treat bees infected with varroa mites.
A study at the national Taiwan University found that varoa mites inhibit the expression of genes that affect nerve signal transmission and other genes that affect both memory and learning in bees. This study found that sodium butyrate, or NaB, can increase the expression of many genes, including those related to learning and immune response. This study was performed by feeding honey bees sugar with high levels of sodium butyrate for one week. After this week, the bees were infected with varroa mites. They found that after five days, 90% of bees were still alive, compared to the bees in the control study who were not fed NaB. The scientists also performed this study on a bee farm and found that 80% of bees fed sodium.
butyrate of bees before geting infected with varroa mites found theur way home after being infected. This data is comparable to bees who were not infected with varroa mites.
There are many different ways that you can help to save the bees. This includes planting bee and pollinator friendly plants including. Some of these plants you use daily without even realizing they are bee friendly! These plants include thyme, rosemary, chives, mint, sage, lavender, and more! Flowers that bees like include sunflowers, zinnia, verbena, and more. Using less pesticides will also help the bees. Having your own hive can also help to increase the bee population. In fact, there are many grants available to help fund those looking to get into beekeeping. Buying locally made products that contain honey and beeswax are great ways to support people in your community with beehives. Websites like the Bee Conservancy are great resources that include many different things you can do to save the bees!
Posted by: Sarah Conant (1)
Article source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210928110235.htm
I’ve heard the “save the bees” comment many times by never have paid much attention to it. I also didn’t know that mites ere so dangerous to bees. Reading more about it and finding how much danger they are in brings more importance to the saying.
ReplyDelete-Jackelyn Raymundo Santizo
Hi Jackelyn!
DeleteI had also heard this expression many times without paying much attention to it in the past. However, the article that I wrote this blog post on helped me to realize the importance of bees for our food systems.
I knew bees were being killed and their lives were being endangered but I had no idea by what. I'm curious to know how many bees survived after getting infected with varroa mite without the treatment of NaB and what the survival rate are of bees after being infected with the virus.
ReplyDelete-Morianna Saint-Cyr
Hi Morianna!
DeleteGreat question! For bees fed NaB, ninety percent survived after five days of being infected with the varroa mites, while ninety percent of bees infected with varroa mites who did not get NaB did not survive. The researchers also did another study with NaB and found that when given NaB, varroa mite infected bees returned to the hive at the same rate as those who were not infected with the mites. I hope this helps!
I like how you not only informed us on the importance of bees and how their populations are being reduced, but also what we can do to change this. I also found it really interesting that scientists were able to find a way to decrease the effect of varroa mites without the use of pesticides, and how there are grants for those planning on getting into beekeeping.
ReplyDelete- David Miropolsky
Hi David!
DeleteThank you for your comment! I think that bees are a really important aspect of our ecosystem, so it is really important to protect them. I also found it interesting that there were ways to protect the bees from the varroa mites without the use of pesticides. These grants are also great for those getting into beekeeping as it allows anyone, regardless of their financial situation to own bees
One of my friends at home keeps bees and I've learned from him the importance of bees and how under threat they are. Without bees and other pollinators we will lose a lot of our produce, crop yield, and biodiversity. Using pesticides, harmful chemicals, and climate change can all really harm bees.
ReplyDeleteIf NaB increases the expression of all genes, I wonder if this could have unintended deleterious side effects in the future. Excessive gene expression could lead to the cell wasting all its energy producing proteins or, the inverse, excessive production of repressors could stop production of many proteins, also potentially killing the cell. It would be important to know the potential side effects of the treatment, to make sure the cure isn't worse than the disease
ReplyDelete-William Sobchuk
I had a similar thought to William. I was also wondering if this concept of NaB increasing the expression of genes is a universal concept that can be applied to other life forms. If so, would this be dangerous or could it be used for good as well?
ReplyDeleteI had no idea there were actual mites that affected bees as well. Mostly thought they were dying because of humans and didn't take in account that there are other factors too. I like how you informed us of this and information about what scientists and beekeepers are doing to naturally help these bees against these mites.
ReplyDelete-Selena Yim