I don't know if this is a good development or not.
ScienceDaily.com
Bees Fight Back Against Colony Collapse Disorder: Some Honey Bees Toss Out Varroa Mites
ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2009) — Honey bees are now fighting back aggressively against Varroa mites, thanks to Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
efforts to develop bees with a genetic trait that allows them to more easily find the mites and toss them out of the broodnest.
The parasitic Varroa mite attacks the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., by feeding on its hemolymph, which is the combination of blood and fluid inside a
bee. Colonies can be weakened or killed, depending on the severity of the infestation. Most colonies eventually die from varroa infestation if left
untreated.
ARS scientists at the agency’s Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, La., have developed honey bees with high
expression of the VSH trait. Honey bees are naturally hygienic, and they often remove diseased brood from their nests. VSH is a specific form of nest
cleaning focused on removing varroa-infested pupae. The VSH honey bees are quite aggressive in their pursuit of the mites. The bees gang up, chew and
cut through the cap, lift out the infected brood and their mites, and discard them from the broodnest.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the bees are making a fight of it. Since they are very important to our planet.
But I have misgivings about genetically altering them, not through tampering with their genes but selective breading, from what I can gather from the
article.
it just seems like solving a problem by making another eventual problem. Who knows what the result of this genetic tampering will result in?
I guess for now we can just be happy that a solution to one of the problems causing Colony
Collapse Disorder has evidently been found.
And just wait to see what the future holds!
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