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QualityKoalaTeacher t1_j37dwsq wrote

Isn’t colony collapse directly related to pesticides? How will a vaccine help with that?

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FutureCanadian94 t1_j37fzfa wrote

According to the article, Pesticides are one of the causes that weaken the immune system which leaves them vulnerable to bacteria. There are also the bacteria that this article is directly addressing and mites that suck the fat out of the bees which also kill them. So, yeah this vaccine isn't going to completely stop colony collapse, but it will help a lot of colonies from collapsing that are collapsing because of the bacteria.

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QualityKoalaTeacher t1_j384fy5 wrote

> collapsing because of the bacteria pesticides

Its a bandaid.

Instead of imposing limits or bans on the offending chemicals they create another product farmers have to purchase to protect the bees from the effects of pesticides.

Its a good start I suppose but it also bypasses the root cause of the issue.

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BorgesBorgesBorges60 OP t1_j37f4gc wrote

Definitely related, but unsure what percentage of colony collapse can be directly attributed to pesticides (though presumably a hell of a lot)

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volantredx t1_j38eg5o wrote

The issue is that without pesticides the crop yields we've seen in the last 30 to 40 years would dwindle and it'd cause issues with farming. It's not as simple as saying "stop doing this and it fixes everything". It'd be more like "stop doing this so we have a different new problem to deal with."

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