A tiny flea that incubated the deadly zoonotic disease; the bubonic plague, killed an estimated one-hundred-million people worldwide. The Black death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.
Now the parasitic ‘Varroa’ mite has helped spread a deadly virus, killing off millions of bee colonies (that’s billions of bees) around the globe.
Many countries have been collaborating in an effort to help save the humble bee. Now, in our own backyard a new hope emerges. The Cornish honey bee seems to be able to better handle the mites and therefore stave off the disease. Paignton Zoo scientists are now monitoring several bee colonies to see how how they fair over the summer.
[Related article: Save the UK’s Declining Bee Population]
[Sources: Cornish Bees / BBC Nature / BBC News Cornwall]