The Swiss made Solar Impulse – a totally solar-powered plane – landed in Morocco after flying for 19 hours from Spain, completing the second leg of its pioneering journey. And knowing how important bees are, with populations falling rapidly in many countries, the nasty predator has been identified. Fuelled by a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, while climate change might be a factor, studies show that parasitic mites have been found to be the primary problem. Read More

By BBC (5 June 2012):

A solar-powered plane has landed in Morocco after flying from Spain, completing the second leg of its pioneering journey.

Pilot Bertrand Piccard landed the Solar Impulse in Rabat – 19 hours after taking off from Madrid.

The plane – the size of a jumbo jet – was powered by 12,000 solar cells turning four electrical motors.

The 2,500km-trip (1,550 miles), begun in Switzerland in May, is described as a rehearsal for a world tour in 2014.

Made of carbon fibre, the plane is the size of an Airbus A340 but only weighs as much as an average family car, according to its creators.

‘Silent giant’

People were able to follow the aircraft’s flight progress via a virtual dashboard on Solar Impulse’s website, which showed the plane’s battery status, altitude and speed.

Mr Piccard was also posting live updates of his journey on Twitter (@bertrandpiccard). In one of his tweets, the former balloonist described the “great feeling” of gliding across southern European skies with solar-powered engines.

The Solar Impulse project was launched in 2003 by Mr Piccard and Swiss pilot Andre Boschberg who flew the first leg of the journey from Switzerland to Madrid in late May.

The aircraft made history in July 2010 when it became the first manned solar plane to complete a 26-hour nonstop flight.

The landmark flight proved that the sun’s energy was enough to keep the plane in the air, even at night.

The organisers now hope to go on a round-the-world tour with a new and improved Solar Impulse model in 2014.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Parasitic mites contribute to bee-killing virus

Reuters report from London(8 June 2012):

Parasitic mites have turbo-charged the spread of a virus responsible for a rise in honey bee deaths around the world, scientists said yesterday.

Bee populations have been falling rapidly in many countries, fuelled by a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder. Its cause is unclear but the Varroa mite is a prime suspect, since it spreads viruses while feeding on hemolymph, or bee’s “blood”.

To clarify the link between mites and viruses, a team led by Dr Stephen Martin of Britain’s University of Sheffield studied the impact of Varroa in Hawaii, which the mites have only recently invaded.

They found the arrival of Varroa increased the prevalence of a single type of virus, deformed wing virus (DWV), in honey bees from around 10 per cent to 100 per cent.

At the same time the amount of DWV virus in the bees’ bodies rocketed by a million-fold and there was a huge reduction in virus diversity, with a single strain of DWV crowding out others.

“It is that strain that is now dominant around the world and seems to be killing bees,” Dr Martin said. “My money would be on this virus as being key.”

Other factors – including fungi, pesticides and decreased plant diversity – are thought to play a role in colony collapse, but Dr Ian Jones of the University of Reading said the latest findings pointed to the virus and mite combination as being the main culprit.

“This data provides clear evidence that, of all the suggested mechanisms of honey bee loss, virus infection brought in by mite infestation is a major player in the decline,” he said.

Dr Jones, who was not involved the research, said the findings published in the journal Science reinforced the need for beekeepers to control Varroa infestation in colonies.

The threat to bee populations extends across much of Europe and the United States to Asia, South America and the Middle East, experts say.

Bees are important pollinators of flowering plants, including many fruit and vegetable crops.

A United Nations report last year estimated that bees and other pollinators such as butterflies, beetles or birds do work worth €153 billion (S$246 billion) a year for the human economy.

Source: www.todayonline.com