Varroa Mite in Bees.

[Jack]

There was an article on the news yesterday about a possible new treatment against the Varroa Mite which is the major killer of honey bees throughout the world. Apparently it works by tricking the mite's immune system into thinking it is being attacked by a virus and the immune response then goes into overdrive and kills the mite. Sound familiar?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today...00/9312256.stm

[elephant]

Sounds very interesting Jack!

[Sangye]

Okay, but if we start calling Wegs a mite, we're all gonna be itchy every day.

[Geoff]

Well Jack, it Mite sound familiar to you but it feels BEEautiful to me!!
Hive I misunderstood your posting? but honestly it shows just how close we are to nature and our surroundings. Who knows it could be a critical link to new treatment?

[chrisTIn@]

Trigger a selfdestruct button ?
Gene knockdown ?

Sounds creepy when you realize the comparison with a rare illness we're all familiar too...

The fact that bees are threatened is worrysome. Good that scientific teamwork results in a solution for this problem.
BUT...
Would be nice if this knowledge could also be used to solve our Weggie-problems.

[drz]

There was an article on the news yesterday about a possible new treatment against the Varroa Mite which is the major killer of honey bees throughout the world. Apparently it works by tricking the mite's immune system into thinking it is being attacked by a virus and the immune response then goes into overdrive and kills the mite. Sound familiar?

BBC News - Today - Breakthrough in bee parasite battle

If they can find a way to give those mites Wegener's then maybe they can find a cure for it too. Save the bees if you can.