James Cook University scientist have discovered a common honey bee disease can be deadly to aboriginal Australian wild bees and can be transmitted by flowers – the first meter this liaison has been made .
JCU ’s Associate Professor Lori Lach oversee the study inquire the susceptibleness of Australian stingless or ‘ sugar bag ’ bees to Nosema ceranae – a sponger that cause European dearest bees to become less active , grow an addition in appetency , and die prematurely .
“ Pathogen spillover from bees keep by bee keeper to wild bee population is progressively view as a possible crusade of wild pollinator decline . Spillover has been frequently documented , but not much is know about the pathogen ’s virulence in savage bee or how longsighted pathogens can survive on a flower , ” said Terence Purkiss , the honours student who take the written report .
Australian native stingless bees . Image : Dr Peter Yeeles
The scientists constitute that just over two - thirds of the raving mad bee exposed to the disease caught it , and those that did die at nearly three times the rate of those without it . Most European bee - hives have been found to contain the disease to some extent .
The scientist also happen that flowers can transmit the disease .
“ About two third base of the flowers expose to infected European honey bee were find to be carrying Nosema ceranae spore . In every case , at least one stingless bee that forage on the peak cut the pathogen . What this means is that wild bees can be infect with the disease by share a prime with an infect European bee , ” say Dr Lach .
Five out of the six stingless bee hives the researchers monitored over five month tested positive for the pathogen at least once .
Dr Lach tell coinage ’ geographic distributions are changing quickly due to home ground loss , climate change , and through new species being introduced by man .
“ This conduct to novel combinations of interacting species that portion out no evolutionary history . Introduced species may add with them their pathogens and parasites and provide an opportunity for these to spread to fresh species , ” Dr Lach said .
Dr Lach said more oeuvre had to be done outside the science lab setting and within dissimilar time of year to get a clean picture of how dangerous the pathogen is to violent bee .
“ We know that Modern host will not have had the opportunity to develop defence against raw pathogen and may be particularly susceptible . For instance , human immunodeficiency virus and wicked discriminating respiratory syndrome jumped from chimpanzees and at-bat , respectively , to human being and have resulted in millions of deaths , ” she order .
Dr Lach said it was the first written report to find a spillover of the pathogen from European bees to Australia ’s stingless bee .
“ concentrate risk of pathogen transmittal from managed to raging bee presents multiple challenge and must take the beekeeping community for any literal alteration to come about . Development of rapid in effect diagnostic tool and dependable substance of foreclose and deal infection will be important betterment too , ” she tell .
The work was publish in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
root : James Cook University
