Last year, almost half of the honeybee colonies in the U.S. died, making it the second deadliest year for honeybees on record. The main culprit wasn’t climate change, starvation, or even pesticides, but a parasite: Varroa destructor.
“The name for this parasite is a very Transformer-y sounding name, but … these Varroa destructor mites have earned this name. It’s not melodramatic by any means. [They are] incredibly destructive organisms,” says Dr. Sammy Ramsey, entomologist at the University of Colorado Boulder.
These tiny mites feed on the bees and make them susceptible to other threats like diseases and pesticides. They’re also highly contagious: They arrived in the US in 1987, and now they live in almost every honeybee colony in the country. Honeybees pollinate many important crops, like apples, peaches, and berries, and their pollinator services add up to billions of dollars.
Ramsey and his lab are trying to put an end to the varroa mites’ spree. Part of their research includes spying on baby bees and their accompanying mites to learn how the parasites feed on the bees and whether there’s a way to disrupt that process.
In Boulder, Colorado, SciFri producer Rasha Aridi speaks with Dr. Ramsey and fellow entomologist Dr. Madison Sankovitz about how the varroa mites terrorize bees so effectively, and what it would take to get ahead of them.
Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.
Our Inevitable Cosmic Apocalypse
The Complicated Truths About Offshore Wind And Right Whales
The Bumpy Road To Approving New Alzheimer’s Drugs
‘3 Body Problem’ And The Laws Of Physics | In Defense Of ‘Out Of Place’ Plants
Baltimore Bridge Collapse | Mapping How Viruses Jump Between Species
The Legacy Of Primatologist Frans de Waal
The ‘Asteroid Hunter’ Leading The OSIRIS-REx Mission
Swimming Sea Lions Teach Engineers About Fluid Dynamics
Botanical Rescue Centers Take In Illegally Trafficked Plants
2023 Was Hottest Year On Record | The NASA Satellite Studying Plankton
A Strange-Looking Fish, Frozen In Time
What We Know After 4 Years Of COVID-19
Science Unlocks The Power Of Flavor In ‘Flavorama’
Abortion-Restrictive States Leave Ob-Gyns With Tough Choices
Nasal Rinsing Safely | How Your Brain Constructs Your Mental Health
A New Book Puts ‘Math in Drag’
With This Rare Disorder, No Amount Of Sleep Is Enough
How Election Science Can Support Democracy | The Genetic Roots Of Antibiotic Resistance
Triple Feature: Dune, Mars, And An Alien On Earth
Could This Be The End Of Voyager 1?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Freakonomics Radio
Radiolab
More Perfect
Snap Judgment Presents: Spooked
Death, Sex & Money