Some good news for a change

Looks like researchers in Spain may have found the solution to colony collapse disorder:

For the first time, scientists have isolated the parasite Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from professional apiaries suffering from honey bee colony depopulation syndrome. They then went on to treat the infection with complete success.

In a study published in the new journal from the Society for Applied Microbiology: Environmental Microbiology Reports, scientists from Spain analysed two apiaries and found evidence of honey bee colony depopulation syndrome (also known as colony collapse disorder in the USA). They found no evidence of any other cause of the disease (such as the Varroa destructor, IAPV or pesticides), other than infection with Nosema ceranae. The researchers then treated the infected surviving under-populated colonies with the antibiotic drug, flumagillin and demonstrated complete recovery of all infected colonies.

From ScienceDaily. Of course, there's still a lesson here; beehives tend to be a lot more stressed nowadays than in the past, owing to them being shipped all over hell's half hectare to pollinate crops, and this may make them more susceptible to infection, both from Nosema and other pathogens. As well, the travel itself may carry diseases around a lot more, so that an outbreak can spread to a lot more hives than in the past. After all, that happens in a lot of other animals, like, er... humans.