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CU ����Vlog�ƽ��’s Samuel Ramsey tackles the Varroa mite, a parasite devastating bee colonies and endangering vital crops worldwide

In an age where environmental threats loom large, a CU ����Vlog�ƽ�� entomologist is pioneering an effort to save one of nature’s most crucial pollinators—the honey bee. 

Over the past few years, Samuel Ramsey, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the BioFrontiers Institute, has traveled around the world, from Thailand and Bangladesh to Taiwan, to study a parasitic mite wreaking havoc on honey bee colonies worldwide.

“The parasite is a huge issue on top of all the other threats our pollinators are dealing with, like climate change and habitat loss,” Ramsey said.

The mite, Varroa destructor, is responsible for the recent sharp decline in honey bee health around the world. The small parasite uses enzymes to dissolve bees’ livers and makes them more vulnerable to other diseases, if not killing them directly. It is estimated that beekeepers in the U.S. lost more than 48% of their honey bee colonies last year, with Varroa as the main culprit.

By studying the mite, Ramsey and his team at the are racing to put an end to the pollinator pandemic.

Honey bees are more than just honey makers. They are among the most efficient pollinators in nature, contributing to about $18 billion worth of crops in the U.S., including apples, peaches and potatoes.

“If we lose these bees, we’re going to lose a lot of food,” Ramsey said, adding that the impacts of food insecurity can be far-reaching. “When people are hungry and don’t have necessities, conflict arises, which spills over and makes the world a more difficult place to live.”

Beekeepers have been using pesticides to control the mite, but the pesticides also harm the bees and the environment.

“There are so many honey bee colonies in the U.S., and with each of them being an additional place where chemicals are being applied, it keeps us on this pesticide treadmill that we would love to get off,” Ramsey said.

In his latest effort, Ramsey is exploring if he can tweak the bees’ genes to make them immune to Varroa and reduce pesticide use. He has previously discovered that bees in Southeast Asia, where Varroa originated, are largely resistant to the mite’s attacks, partly because of the genes they carry. If scientists could transfer these genes to honey bees in other parts of the world, it might help bees develop immunity against Varroa.

The took Ramsey to Thailand, Bangladesh and Taiwan this summer, where he sampled local bees’ genomes, as well as other bee parasites and diseases that are threatening bee health. The Tropilaelaps mite, for example, is a cousin of Varroa that can spread even faster across colonies. These mites, originally from Southeast Asia, have begun to spread beyond the continent. Ramsey is closely monitoring their progression to the West in a bid to find a solution before they arrive in the U.S.

Solving the honey bee crisis will need diverse perspectives, and this holds true for many other significant challenges humanity faces today, Ramsey said.

“One of the clearest things that we’ve seen in biology is that a robust ecosystem is a diverse ecosystem. I’m glad that I get to be one of the quirky human beings who gets to focus on solving the bee problem and bring the different perspectives to the table in the entomology community,” Ramsey said.