Research shows infections spread from domestic to wild bees

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Photo Matthias A. Fürst, courtesy of the journal Nature

Agricultural crops from almonds to zucchini are necessarily pollinated by bees, both managed and wild — but colonies of all bees have been collapsing, for reasons that are likely complex and but dimly understood.

That’s why it matters, and not least to human food security, that researchers have now found that two infections common in domestic bees can spread to wild bees.

Global trade may be worsening infection rates, suggests the study published in the February 20 edition of the science journal Nature.

Log in to read F&O’s report, Wild Bees Catch Honeybee Infections, in Dispatches, Science, available with a $1 site day pass or subscription.

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