Mysterious collapse of honey bee colonies may be caused by virus, fungus combination

Virus, fungus new suspects in bee disease

WASHINGTON — Researchers have a pair of new suspects in the mysterious collapse of honey bee colonies across the country.

The widespread damage to the bees has caused concern because the insects are needed to pollinate scores of crops.

Researchers are not positive it’s the cause yet, but they say samples collected from hives affected by the syndrome indicate the presence of a virus as well as a fungus. The two pathogens were not found in bee colonies not affected by the disorder.

The researchers report their findings in Wednesday’s edition of the journal PLoS ONE.