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Mystery Ailment Strikes Honeybees
_ Although the bodies of dead bees often are littered around a hive, sometimes carried out of the hive by worker bees, no bee remains are typically found around colonies struck by the mystery ailment. Scientists assume these bees have flown away from the hive before dying.
_ From the outside, a stricken colony may appear normal, with bees leaving and entering. But when beekeepers look inside the hive box, they find few mature bees taking care of the younger, developing bees.
  A bee is seen on the blossom of an almond tree near Modesto, Calif., in a file photo from Friday, Feb. 20, 2004. As the cold slowly loosens its grip on California's Central Valley, the pink and white flowers on fruit and nut trees are just beginning to blossom and growers are scrambling for a dwindling supply of bees to pollinate their fields. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) (Rich Pedroncelli - AP) 
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_ Normally, a weakened bee colony would be immediately overrun by bees from other colonies or by pests going after the hive's honey. That's not the case with the stricken colonies, which might not be touched for at least two weeks, said Diana Cox-Foster, a Penn State entomology professor investigating the problem.
"That is a real abnormality," Hackenberg said.
Cox-Foster said an analysis of dissected bees turned up an alarmingly high number of foreign fungi, bacteria and other organisms and weakened immune systems.
Researchers are also looking into the effect pesticides might be having on bees.
In the meantime, beekeepers are wondering if bee deaths over the last couple of years that had been blamed on mites or poor management might actually have resulted from the mystery ailment.
"Now people think that they may have had this three or four years," vanEnglesdorp said.
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On the Net:
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture: http:/
Penn State University Entomology Dept.: http:/
American Beekeeping Federation: http:/
