As scientists nationwide are trying to figure out why honeybees are abandoning their hives and dying, Ohio State University has abandoned its bee research.
Ohio State has cut funding for the Rothenbuhler Honey Bee Research Laboratory, which was created in 1989 and was once home to two renowned bee experts.
Susan Fisher, chairwoman of the Ohio State entomology department, said the lab's demise began in 2005 when Brian Smith, a neurobiologist studying how bees learn, took a job at Arizona State University. He wasn't replaced.
Two years later, researcher Susan Cobey, an expert in artificial insemination and breeding, left for the University of California at Davis. Ohio State did not fill the position.
"I'm very frustrated by this," Fisher said. "If there is any single area in which we should be investing in entomology, this is certainly one of them."
Colony collapse disorder has caused bees to abandon their hives and killed billions of bees in 35 states. Beekeepers lost 35 percent of their hives to the disorder this year and 31 percent last year.
Last year, Ohio lost about 72percent of its hives — about 1billion bees — to colony collapse and harsh weather. Ohio bees, which pollinate more than 70 crops, including apples, peaches, strawberries and pumpkins, did better this year.
Nationwide, bees pollinate $14.6billion worth of fruits and vegetables every year.
Rich Hall, associate dean of Ohio State's College of Biological Sciences, said the decision to mothball biological bee research freed more than $242,000 annually in salaries, benefits and maintenance costs.
Rich Hall, associate dean of Ohio State's College of Biological Sciences, said the decision to mothball biological bee research freed more than $242,000 annually in salaries, benefits and maintenance costs.
He said the money went to support and expand research in biochemistry, molecular genetics and organismal biology.
"It's a question of priorities," Hall said. "The department of entomology has relatively few students taking those courses."
Fifteen majors are offered in entomology. The college, with an annual budget of $24.9 million, offers a total of 3,000 majors, Hall said.
The loss of Rothenbuhler isn't the end of Ohio State's work with honeybees. A separate OSU honeybee lab exists in Wooster.
Jim Tew, an OSU beekeeping specialist, said his research is oriented to the needs of Ohio beekeepers, including strategies to help bees get through tough winters.
Though his work can involve queens and breeding, "I'm more of a generalist," Tew said.
"My work has never been the more advanced genetic studies," Tew said. "I would be hard-pressed to do the kind of work Brian (Smith) was doing."
"My work has never been the more advanced genetic studies," Tew said. "I would be hard-pressed to do the kind of work Brian (Smith) was doing."
Researchers at other schools, including Penn State University, are studying Israeli acute paralysis virus as a possible cause of colony collapse.
The bee colony losses also have captured the attention of Congress, which held a hearing on the issue yesterday.
Experts told a congressional panel that a record 36 percent of U.S. commercial bee colonies have been lost to mysterious causes this year, and the worse might be yet to come.
The escalating campaign against colony collapse disorder includes more state, federal and private funding for research.
The five-year farm bill recently approved over President Bush's veto authorizes, but does not guarantee, $20 million for bee-related studies.
In 2005, Smith was paid an annual salary of $96,540 and was working on four research grants that totaled $1.5 million in 2003, Fisher said. In 2004, he won a $1.8 million National Institutes of Health grant for research that was supposed to continue through 2009.
"He more than paid for himself," Fisher said. "When he left, he took that money with him."
Cobey, whose salary was $57,312 a year, said it was difficult to stay at Ohio State after Smith wasn't replaced.
Cobey, whose salary was $57,312 a year, said it was difficult to stay at Ohio State after Smith wasn't replaced.
"It just spiraled down," Cobey said of the program. "I really think it's tragic that honeybee research will not be continued."
Bee enthusiasts and researchers called the lab's closing a big loss.
Tim Arheit, a Delphos beekeeper, said breeding research is critical to creating strains of bees better-adapted to Ohio's winters.
Dewey Caron, a University of Delaware bee researcher, said the work Walter Rothenbuhler, the OSU researcher for whom the lab is named, performed on bee diseases is relevant today.
"At this time, with the demise of bees, we need the strength of programs and use of facilities such as the one Ohio State had," Caron said.
Information from McClatchy Newspapers was included in this story.
shunt@dispatch.com
shunt@dispatch.com
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