Nosema, Crooked Wing Virus Crossing Over From Honeybees To Bumblebees In UK

[hatrack]

Researchers have found that two diseases harboured by honeybees are spilling over into wild bumblebees. Insects infected with deformed wing virus and a fungal parasite called Nosema ceranae were found across England, Scotland and Wales.

Writing in the journal Nature, the team says that beekeepers should keep their honeybees as free from disease as possible to stop the spread.

"These pathogens are capable of infecting adult bumblebees and they seem to have quite significant impacts," said Professor Mark Brown from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Around the world, bumblebees are doing badly. In the last few decades, many species have suffered steep declines, and some, such Cullem's bumblebee (Bombus cullumanus) in the UK, have gone extinct.

EDIT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26242960

[Mojorabbit]

1. I had a hive come down with that a few years ago

It really weakened it and I lost the hive about six months later. on edit it was the deformed wing virus my bees came down with