by Alexandra Klausner

28 September 2013
from DailyMail Website

 

 

  • 10 million bee hives have disappeared in 6 years

  • The drug boosts bees' natural immune systems

  • Bees are responsible for pollinating 80 per cent of the food humans and animals survive on



Researchers from Sweden announced on Friday that they have developed a new medicine to protect bees from diseases that kill entire bee populations in the US and in Europe.

They launched the drug in Russia today at an annual conference of beekeepers and have been working on the drug for ten years.

The drug, invented by microbiologists at Lund University, is cleverly named SymBeeotic and helps bees survive by greatly boosting their immune systems.
 

 

Façade of the Lund university in Sweden,

where the drug SymBeeotic was invented to combat foulbrood disease
 


At first, scientists were perplexed as to how 10 million bee hives managed to disappear from the world after only 6 years.

 

They later discovered that bee deaths could be attributed to things like pesticides, parasites, stress, and poor nutrition all of which weaken bees' immune systems. A weakened immune system makes bees more susceptible to foulbrood disease, the fatal disease known to wipe out entire populations.

The drug is made of lactic acid and bacteria from the stomachs of healthy bees. Scientists believe this new drug can slow down the rate at which bees die.

 

It is given to bees as nutrition, ideally before their winter hibernation.

'The bacteria in this product is active against both American and European foulbrood disease,' said Dr. Alexandra Vasquez who co-created the product.
Alejandra Vasquez is a Lund university researcher

and one of the co-creators of the drug SymBeeotic
 

 

 


Bees are responsible for pollinating

80 percent of the food humans and animals consume
 


The medicine is preventative as oppose to the antibiotics used to treat bees that are already infected. Antibiotics have not been entirely effective in saving the bee population.

In a statement from the university, co-researcher Dr Tobias Olofsson said it was,

'the only existing product that boosts bees' natural immune system', as resistance to antibiotics grows.

 

 

 

Why save bees?

 

Bees are vital to agriculture and human health. According to Mother Nature Network (MNN) bees are responsible for pollinating 80 per cent of our flowering crops. That's about 1/3 of food in the human diet.

It goes beyond plants, though. Losing bees could terminate the beef and dairy industry. Other animals, such as the animals we eat, rely upon food pollinated by bees.

Bee venom has also been found to have medicinal properties.

 

It can be used for treating,

  • arthritis

  • multiple sclerosis

  • fibromyalgia,

...and more recently to treat,

  • sexual dysfunction

  • cancer

  • epilepsy

  • depression


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 Swedes Develop Drug to...

Combat Bee Deaths
28 September 2013

from TheLocal Website

 

 

 

 



Researchers in Sweden said Friday

they had developed a new medicine

to protect bees from diseases

that kill entire populations of the insect

 in the US and Europe.
 

 


A team of microbiologists at Lund University have patented the treatment, known as SymBeeotic - made from lactic acid bacteria from the stomachs of healthy bees - which they described as a major "boost" to bees' immune system and are hopeful that it could slow down the rate at which bees are dying.

"The bacteria in this product is active against both American and European foulbrood disease," Dr Alejandra Vasquez, who co-developed the product, told AFP.

Foulbrood is the fatal bacterial disease which threatens bees.

"We hope that beekeepers will see this as a good preventative medicine so that they can avoid using antibiotics."

The researchers, who worked on the medicine for nearly ten years, planned to launch it at an annual conference of beekeepers in Russia on Saturday.

In a statement from the university, co-researcher Dr Tobias Olofsson said it was,

"the only existing product that boosts bees' natural immune system", as resistance to antibiotics grows.

Pesticides, parasites, stress and poor nutrition are believed to be some of the factors causing a deterioration of the immune systems of bees around the world, making them more susceptible to disease.