Smoking Gun

A honey bee newsletter, "From the UC Apiaries" newsletter, written by Cooperative Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology Faculty, provides linformative and educational information for beekeepers and those interested in the plight of the honey bee.

In his latest edition, Mussen writes:

"Since years of study on colony collapse disorder (CCD) of honey bees have not produced the smoking gun (a single cause) for the malady, scientists are turning to potential multiple causes.  The studies are designed to try to find synergistic interacttions of chemicals in the hive that may be damaging the bees.  The dictionary definition of synergism is: interaction of discrete agencies or agents such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects.  In other words, one plus one equals more than two.  The question is:  Can pesticide residues, infectious agents, and/or malnutrition combine to be much worse for the bees than simply the additive effect of  each alone?"

To read how he answers this key question,  see the March-April edition on his Web site.