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[SANET-MG] reply to Frank Schultz on honey bee decline



Hi Frank,
I appreciated your comments as it made me look into hybrid honey bees. As you may be aware several hybrids are used in bee breeding, these include the Russian, African and other bees. The Russian bees were used to enhance mite resistance. However, the CCD problem seems not to be a mite problem but rather something caused by fungal parasites or viruses in combination, perhaps, with neonicotinoid and other pesticides. I have been concerned that the authorities are ignoring or even suppressing information on the effect of pesticides on the honey bee immune system. There is plenty of information showing that the pesticides stress the honey bee immune system and enhance infection with fungal parasites and probably viruses as well. I am including a paper on another factor that has not really entered the discussion previously. That factor is that honey bee workers, like people, experience age related decline in immunity. Young guys work in the nursery but as they age they loose immunity and are sent out to forage. The foraging workers have elderly immune systems that are defective. If for some reason brood workers are short handed the elderly foraging bees are recruited and in that environment may regenrate their immune system. Pesticides and GM crops may tip the balance toward infection by fungal parasites and viruses. Thanks again for the interesting point that you raised. sincerely, joe cummins
Experimental Gerontology
Volume 40, Issue 12, December 2005, Pages 939-947
Social reversal of immunosenescence in honey bee workers

Gro V. Amdama, b, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author, Anne Lene T.O. Aaseb, Siri-Christine Seehuusb, M. Kim Fondrka, Kari Norbergb and Klaus Hartfelderc

Abstract

A striking example of immunosenescence is seen in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker caste. The bees' age-associated transition from hive duties to more risky foraging activities is linked to a dramatic decline in immunity. Explicitly, it has been shown that an increase in the juvenile hormone (JH) level, which accompanies onset of foraging behavior, induces extensive hemocyte death through nuclear pycnosis. Here, we demonstrate that foragers that are forced to revert to hive-tasks show reversal of immunosenescence, i.e. a recovery of immunity with age. This recovery, which is triggered by a social manipulation, is accompanied by a drop in the endogenous JH titer and an increase in the hemolymph vitellogenin level. Vitellogenin is a zinc binding glycolipoprotein that has been implicated in the regulation of honey bee immune integrity. We also establish that worker immunosenescence is mediated by apoptosis, corroborating that reversal of immunosenescence emerges through proliferation of new cells. The results presented here, consequently, reveal a unique flexibility in honey bee immunity—a regulatory plasticity that may be of general biological interest.
Frank A. Schultz, III wrote:
Dear Dr. Cummins -

This MAY be the article I had in mind - if you've seen this then I hope that my few comments have not caused too much of a distraction to you:

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