Can Mushrooms Save the Honey Bee? | bioGraphic

Ғылым және технология

A blood-sucking mite is wreaking havoc on honey bees-but scientists have discovered a surprising new way to fight back.
Produced by Louie Schwartzberg
Full story: bit.ly/2p5r8S5
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A decade ago, honey bee populations around the world began declining at an alarming rate. In the early years of this trend, beekeepers lost 60 percent or more of their hives to a mysterious phenomenon that came to be known as “colony collapse disorder” (CCD). In each of these cases, worker bees simply disappeared, and it doesn’t take long for a colony to collapse without workers to provide food and to care for the young. Although this trend seems to have leveled off somewhat in recent years, the current average rate of 30 percent annual mortality is still nearly double the average rate reported prior to 2006.
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are native to Europe, western Asia and Africa, but have also been introduced to many other parts of the world to serve as pollinators of agricultural crops. Today, honey bees pollinate one-third of all the crops we consume-nearly a thousand varieties in all-and are by far the world’s most important and economically valuable pollinators for commercial agriculture. In the U.S. alone, their annual value is estimated at $5-14 billion.
Since the first reports of dead and dying honey bee colonies began to stream in, scientists have scrambled to determine the cause, or causes, of CCD. One threat in particular stood out as a major cause of honey bee declines: varroa mites (Varroa destructor). These tiny parasitic arachnids weaken adult and juvenile bees by sucking their blood. They also transmit a number of viruses that can spread throughout a colony like wildfire. To make matters worse, the mites reproduce quickly and, because of this, can rapidly evolve resistance to traditional chemical pesticides.
While many scientists have continued to search for causes of honey bee declines, others have turned their attention to developing new, more sustainable solutions to these threats. One of the more surprising and promising of these strategies is the use of compounds produced by a widely-distributed mushroom (Metarhizium anisopliae) that is known to parasitize a number of different insects. Researchers from Washington State University have found that spores and extracts from this mushroom are particularly toxic to varroa mites but-in low doses-leave bees unharmed. In fact, bees in hives treated with Metarhizium tend to be much healthier and live longer than those in untreated hives. While large-scale trials are just now being implemented, early results suggest that a common mushroom may hold the answer to at least one major driver of honey bee declines.
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Пікірлер: 37

  • @1rstjames
    @1rstjames4 жыл бұрын

    The minute the BeeMushroomed Feeders are available, I'm buying as many as I can afford.

  • @ElementalSerenity

    @ElementalSerenity

    3 жыл бұрын

    On that same boat. Also desiring to plant as many flowers as I possibly can to attract pollinators

  • @heathertaylor9443
    @heathertaylor94436 жыл бұрын

    As a beekeeper in Scotland this is the only way forward for the human race, get behind Paul Stamets

  • @RayneDripTarot

    @RayneDripTarot

    5 жыл бұрын

    #canmushroomssavetheplanet Yes!! Check out the documentary I am working on. Paul Stamets is brilliant!!

  • @ahfahnterebi1881

    @ahfahnterebi1881

    2 жыл бұрын

    Youre not a beekeeper! They keep you! And are generous enough to allow you to think that you're helping them. Priorities, ego driven, self aggrandising human

  • @TheFarmacySeedsNetwork
    @TheFarmacySeedsNetwork7 жыл бұрын

    Thank God for Paul Stametz!

  • @Opochtli
    @Opochtli4 жыл бұрын

    Wow!!! Incredible Who else is here because of JRE?

  • @equalizer1553
    @equalizer15534 жыл бұрын

    Fantastic short doc, can’t wait to see the full film

  • @afraaali3651
    @afraaali36517 жыл бұрын

    Hopefully it will work

  • @Earthisdivine
    @Earthisdivine Жыл бұрын

    Can somebody please give me a homemade recipe to create the mushroom bee feeder? Or what mushrooms to grow in my gardens to deliver the immune support to the bees?

  • @vidviewer20
    @vidviewer209 ай бұрын

    So helps the bees resist viruses, but doesn't kill varroa mites?

  • @matthiaslampe
    @matthiaslampe4 жыл бұрын

    what are the results of the study they mention? It's been done 3 years ago? Anyone saw some results published?

  • @baljeetkhosa7900
    @baljeetkhosa79005 жыл бұрын

    more resarch for beekeeping

  • @orwellgeorge7261
    @orwellgeorge72614 жыл бұрын

    Почему нету перевода субтитрами, ведь это так важно, чтобы об этом узнали как можно больше людей на планете?! P.S Paul Stamets - величайший человек!

  • @darkgaming-vl6sx
    @darkgaming-vl6sx5 жыл бұрын

    How do extract mushroom, and how do you used this for the bees?

  • @brianwhite9555

    @brianwhite9555

    5 жыл бұрын

    Watch this longer video... kzread.info/dash/bejne/dnWrwbyzl8iaacY.html

  • @ahfahnterebi1881

    @ahfahnterebi1881

    2 жыл бұрын

    You don't need to extract it! They've been doing it for millions of year. Just get outta the way

  • @user-rk3cp8wh7r
    @user-rk3cp8wh7r7 жыл бұрын

    Great Idea! in 4:51 you can see lines in sky made from planes.... and you still ask why bee dies? poor bee...and us

  • @captaincairoPT
    @captaincairoPT6 жыл бұрын

    Paul Stamets is the man! Je knows his shrooms

  • @anchestor8694
    @anchestor86947 жыл бұрын

    What type of mushroom ??

  • @dobe762

    @dobe762

    7 жыл бұрын

    Good question, Id like to know the answer to that as perhaps they might grow locally

  • @brianwhite9555

    @brianwhite9555

    5 жыл бұрын

    Watch this longer video... kzread.info/dash/bejne/dnWrwbyzl8iaacY.html

  • @brianwhite9555

    @brianwhite9555

    5 жыл бұрын

    @@dobe762, Watch this longer video... kzread.info/dash/bejne/dnWrwbyzl8iaacY.html

  • @brianwhite9555

    @brianwhite9555

    5 жыл бұрын

    @fogggygyrl, It's not a soil fungus. It's a tree fungus. Watch this longer video... kzread.info/dash/bejne/dnWrwbyzl8iaacY.html

  • @baljeetkhosa7900
    @baljeetkhosa79005 жыл бұрын

    im beekeeper from india .with 500 hive . we found defficult to dignose what kind desease in hive.

  • @dmartin1920
    @dmartin19205 жыл бұрын

    Great art work. Good info about the problem. No proof of solution - more facts less narrative.

  • @dmartin1920

    @dmartin1920

    5 жыл бұрын

    Reminds me of the fable " crying wolf".

  • @brianwhite9555

    @brianwhite9555

    5 жыл бұрын

    The documentation has been out there for quite a while, all you have to do is look for it. Do your own homework.There are other videos on Paul Stamets and saving the bees. In the meantime, you can read this, published last Oct.... www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32194-8

  • @jotv7224
    @jotv72242 жыл бұрын

    are almonds really that good for us? they bother my stomach i don't eat them whats more important than the honey bees is all the other wild bees a mono culture for almonds like what is done in California is a breeding ground for pest and disease that can also branch out to the pollinators and wildlife. bio diversity is everything

  • @lesleycassell

    @lesleycassell

    Жыл бұрын

    The bee feeder is being designed to benefit all bees.

  • @psillimicelli
    @psillimicelli9 ай бұрын

    any update on this @paulstamets and team?

  • @yoinkling
    @yoinkling4 жыл бұрын

    :)

  • @armithel3133
    @armithel31334 жыл бұрын

    Mason Bees pollinate better than honey bees.

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