Mushrooms can save bees

One of the biggest threats in the world for honey bees and honeycombs (varroa mite), soon will be plague. Researchers at the University of Warwick are investigating wild fungi that can kill bees. They are also exploring ways to bring the 'killer mushroom' to beehives thanks to mushroom foot baths or sprays.

Everyone knows that bees all over the world are suffering from catastrophic catastrophes. One of the causes of that disaster is the bee, the destroyer of Varroa. The termites feed on circulatory fluid on adult nymphs and honey bees. That way they spread the disease to reduce bee lifespan, causing the colonies to decline in numbers . Honeycombs also have a big impact in all the countries it appears in, for example it causes losses of between 30% and 50% of honey bees when it first arrives in the UK. And now the bee termite has become a pandemic. The damage to bees with the aforementioned levels greatly affects commercial crops and pollinated plants by bees. Plague originates in Asia but has spread worldwide.

Currently, people treat bees with insecticides, but they have developed resistance to them. Biological control techniques (such as the use of organisms that control each other) can provide a new way of controlling pests without depending on synthetic insecticides. But it is still not possible to find the type of natural insect or the enemy of the parasitic varroa on their termite or honey bee host.

Bee parasites on bee nymphs.(Photo: Image courtesy of University of Warwick)

The research was funded by Defra, led by researchers at Warwick University, Warwick Plant Research Group HRI in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, which recently discovered some of the natural enemies of varroa on other hosts of them.

Dr. Dave Chandler - researcher at the University of Warwick - said: 'We have tested 50 different fungi that are harmful to other insects (also called entomopathogenic mushrooms) to see if they can killing bees or not. We need to find out what kind of killer fungus works with bees and at the same time have little effect on bees, they must work in a warm and dry environment and must be in the honeycomb. Of the original 50 fungal species, we are focusing on 4 species that best meet the three conditions above. '

The team hopes to obtain additional funding to further study the effectiveness of the four fungi as well as to find the best way to apply biological weapons in honeycomb. Many methods are being considered, including how to place a mushroom foot bath at the main entrance of the honeycomb. However, complex environments in beehives also mean the need for more sophisticated applications.

Dr. Chandler will conduct the International Conference of Invertebrate Animal Disease Research Association at Warwick University starting on August 4. There is a special section to be held on bee health topics. honey. The conference is the focus of the world's leading experts on the phenomenon of declining bee colonies. Here experts will discuss the underlying cause of phenomena in every way.