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May 15, 2008 2:54 pm US/Eastern
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Researcher Studies Disappearance Of Honeybees
WORCESTER (WBZ) ―
A UMass researcher has been given a federal grant to study the mysterious disappearance of honeybee colonies, a major concern not only for multi-million dollar crops in New England, but perhaps for human health as well.
Prof. John Burand, an insect pathologist at UMass Amherst, has received the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to improve the health of bees that are main pollinators of cranberry and blueberry crops in New England, worth more than $100 million a year, as well as apples and squash.
Worker bees in many colonies across the country have vanished since 2006 because of colony collapse disorder, CCD. Prof. Burand says, "the colony collapse disorder could be even worse this year than we've seen in past years."
His research team is looking for viruses, that affect only bees, and healthy microbes that may be out of balance because of environmental factors such as pesticides.
"Certainly, if we're in a situation where our bee population is declining, we ought to worry about our own health," says Prof. Burand.
The U.S.D.A. grant for this research is $150,000 over three years. "If you're looking for viruses...you're gonna need sophisticated equipment to visualize those viruses," says Burand who tells WBZ's Ron Sanders this is a complex problem that won't be solved right away; and while he's happy to have the federal grant, he says it's not nearly enough money to tackle the problem.
Ultimately, the goal of this bee research is to develop ways of monitoring viruses, bacteria and other microbes carried by honeybees and bumblebees in the northeast.
By the way, Prof. Burand says he's never been stung.
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