MTSI will be an enduring, first-choice Industry leader providing high-quality solutions for problems of global importance. Outlines the research being done at Virginia Tech into such topics as the molecular genomics of interactions between plants and pathogens, the physiology of herbicide resistance, and epidemics of plant diseases. Under the direction of Timothy Kring, Virginia Tech’s entomology department is expanding its focus on pollinators. Kring started work Jan. 1, bringing with him, he said, a passion for the study of pollinator health. Virginia Tech Carilion improves human health and quality of life by providing leadership in medical education and biomedical and clinical research. Va Tech Agriculture ProgrammeVirginia Tech study aims to help explain honeybee losses. BLACKSBURG . Debate rages over why bees are dying but solutions are elusive. Virginia. The die- off is troubling for the nation. Historically, 1. 0 percent or less of hives died annually, according to Keith Tignor, state apiarist for the commonwealth. Yearly losses swelled to about 3. The work is expected to continue through 2. In phase one, which is winding down, researchers are collecting, mapping and analyzing samples of bees, pollen and wax gathered from beekeepers. In phase two, researchers plan to set up test colonies in areas flagged by sampling for more in- depth study. A graduate student is surveying beekeepers on their management practices and that data also will be incorporated. Richard Reid, a Montgomery County beekeeper, is participating in a state study on honeybee losses. According to state figures, there are an estimated 5,000 beekeepers across. The Department of Horticulture offers a broad spectrum of educational opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students and a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. Reid, who took up bees again in 2. The bees are being analyzed for nutrition, general health and immunity, and they, along with the pollen and wax, are being analyzed for pesticide residue. Researchers hope a different approach to a familiar topic will yield concrete answers. Big problems, big data. Technology is playing a key part in studying one of nature. The millions of data points, including the location data, will be plugged into a statistical model to search for regional patterns. Va Tech Agriculture Program Rankings
Those may help scientists zero in on major problems plaguing the commonwealth. In California, for example, honeybees pollinate much of the world. A handful of beekeepers in the state make their living moving their hives short distances to pollinate crops, Tignor said. But, Tignor said, whether they know it or not every hobbyist provides pollination for agriculture and forestry, which together make up Virginia. Scientists raced to find the root of what became known as CCD, or colony collapse disorder. They found mites, viruses and other problems, but no single cause. Attention shifted to a class of pesticides derived from nicotine, called neonicotinoids. These chemicals pose little threat to mammals and birds and are used widely in industrial agriculture as well as by small farmers and homeowners. Most commercial corn and soybean seeds are treated with neonics, as they often are called, and the plants excrete the toxin in their leaves and stems. Sap- sucking and leaf- eating pests die when they feed on the treated crops. Some of the chemicals get into nectar and pollen, too, leading to fears that it might poison honeybees. Some European countries have banned neonics temporarily to see whether bee losses there will wane. In the U. S., this class of insecticides is regulated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Spraying neonics on blooming plants is prohibited, for example. But Fell and other bee experts say there is no good evidence to support the idea that neonics are the primary culprit in honeybee losses. Researchers still are analyzing Virginia samples for neonics, Fell said. But other studies have found few of these chemicals. Where they have been detected, levels have been so low, Fell said, it. Researchers are looking for traces not just of pesticides but also of commonly used herbicides and fungicides. It could be that chemicals are a problem, but only in certain areas or under certain conditions, or in combination with each other. Or it could be they are not a major factor. Flawed conclusions? The perception that pesticides, and neonics in particular, are to blame for die- offs has been boosted by some laboratory studies on small numbers of bees in cages. But the immune systems of the young bees often used in those studies might not be as developed as in older bees, making them more susceptible to toxins. Furthermore, Fell said, pesticides at normal plant levels collected by a hive of 3. Lab studies can be misleading if they are not followed up with good field studies, Fell said. After leading field studies in which he fed neonics to a group of colonies over 1. Harvard public health researcher Chensheng . Specifically, the levels of pesticides exceeded what is found in the nectar and pollen of treated plants. That is a problem with many lab studies, too, Fell said. Recent studies have shown that bees are good at detoxifying themselves after exposure to neonicotinoids, Anderson said. Besides, neonics are not widely used in Southwest Virginia, yet annual losses hover around 3. In an email to The Roanoke Times, Lu wrote that he used levels of a popular neonic, Imidacloprid, below what EPA guidelines say is the maximum safe dose and pollen samples collected from across Massachusetts for a more recent project support his choice in dosages. Neonics first were used in the 1. Colony collapse disorder was not reported until 2. At the time, there were no diagnosis criteria and no official monitoring systems to identify the syndrome, according to Fell and Anderson. Much of the evidence was anecdotal. In many cases, entire bee colonies disappeared, leaving no dead bees to test for pesticides or diseases. Markers of health. The Virginia study could solve another riddle. Defining health could help researchers better monitor for disease and other problems. His lab is analyzing bee samples for protein levels, immune response and other markers in hopes of establishing criteria for bee health. In fact, poor general health might figure into losses. Commercial beekeepers truck thousands of colonies over long distances, concentrating them in agricultural areas, such as California. This stresses the bees and might contribute to lack of nutrition during certain times of the year, researchers say. It also is a recipe for spreading diseases quickly across the country. Big bee die- offs are not new. About a century ago, a mass die- off occurred on Britain. It alternately has been blamed on a mite species that infects the bee. Better control of those mites alone would help honeybees, Anderson said. Efforts so far have focused mostly on miticides. But the mites quickly develop resistance to the chemicals. The Tech study is looking at levels of hive contamination from those chemicals, too. For his part, Reid decided in 2. In 1. 99. 6, a year after he put his empty hives away, a swarm moved into idle equipment near his house. They lived there for 1. Believing there were honeybees able to fight the mites, Reid said, he was ready to try again. Today, he has more than 1. New River Valley. Last year, he said he lost fewer than 2. Reid has focused . He keeps a dozen or so lines, some developed by breeders to resist mites, and some wild bees. He propagates queens from those strains, hoping to develop hardy stocks. Over the next two years, Fell and his collaborators will set up test colonies and closely monitor them. They will look at factors such as Varroa mite infestation and the health of queens.
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