Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has plagued bee keepers worldwide for years and threatens to devastate one third of our food supply, but the cure, let alone the cause for entire hives disappearing has remained a mystery, until now.  Spanish researchers have identified one possible cause for the devastating blight as a parasitic fungus, Nosema ceranae, and what’s even exciting is that they were able to successfully treat and cure the hives with the antifungal fumagillin.  The treatment clearly won’t serve as a complete panacea for CCD, as there are likely other causes and relying on a magic bullet for nature is never wise, but the results are encouraging.  Hopefully the discovery will lead to a great understanding to the other factors contributing to CCD, and more significantly encourage industrial bee keepers to practice healthier hive hygiene.

Happy Spring!

takepart by helping to better understand what’s going on with bees by counting them with the Great Sunflower Project!