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.
Surfing Particles Can Supercharge Northern Lights
The (Not So) Easy Guide To Getting To Space
The Women Astronomers Who Captured the Stars
Quercetin May Cause Red Wine Headaches | Worsening Wildfires Are Undoing Air Quality Progress
Speaking Multiple Languages Changes The Way You Think
Social Connections Keep Us Physically and Mentally Healthy As We Age
Women Were Also Skilled Hunters In Ancient Times
An AI Leader’s Human-Centered Approach To Artificial Intelligence
COP28 Host Had Plans to Promote Oil and Gas | Researchers Detected Cicada Emergence With Fiber-Optics
Ralph Nader Reflects On His Auto Safety Campaign, 55 Years Later
What’s That Smell? An AI Nose Knows
Jane Goodall On Life Among Chimpanzees
The ‘Wet-Dog Shake’ And Other Physics Mysteries
Ig Nobel Prizes | Stop Flushing Your Health Data Down The Toilet
The West’s Wild Horses | Artist Explores History Of Humans Genetically Modifying Pigs
Moon Rock Research | Science of Unraveling Sweaters
2023’s Best Science Books For Kids
How AI Chatbots Can Reinforce Racial Bias In Medicine
An Exoplanet Where It Rains Sand
Ask A Chef: How Can I Use Science To Make Thanksgiving Tastier?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Freakonomics Radio
Radiolab
More Perfect
Snap Judgment Presents: Spooked
Death, Sex & Money