Scientists have been scrambling to discover what happened; now the culprits are emerging. A research paper published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), though not yet peer-reviewed, has found nearly all colonies had contracted a bee virus spread by parasitic mites that appear to have developed resistance to the main chemicals used to control them.

Varroa mites spreading disease.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Is this news? I thought these mites were already on beekeepers radars

[–] PlantJam@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago

Further down the article they quote someone saying they don't think this is the actual cause. Apparently the mites and virus are in most hives, so they're not convinced it's the cause of the die off rather than just a symptom of a weakened hive.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Looked into beekeeping on and off and varroa mites are a top consideration in any source I've read.

[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 10 points 1 week ago

They're still trying to blame it on pesticides, but because they aren't killing well enough.

You'd think beekeepers would have been noticing an uptick in mites for the last two decades, though. They regularly check for them.

[–] vovo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Without beekeeping, wild bees wouldn't be in danger.

[–] match@pawb.social 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

at the very least they could stop putting hives on trucks and hauling them between orchards for pollination

[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Ah yes, because we're not deforesting and clearing land previously habitat for wild bees land at a high rate, and filling that land with suburbs and car parks or agricultural monocultures & pesticides.

It's just beekeeping that's causing issues.

[–] vovo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

I was talking about the virus but there is more to it:

The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did

[–] andyburke@fedia.io 2 points 1 week ago

"the main chemicals used to control them."

And here is the fucking problem.