New Israeli vaccine could save bees from colony collapse disorder

(It's nice once in awhile to break away from NGO's, HRW, etc., and to see good things still being created out there.)

By Nitsana Bellehsen
July 15, 2009

An Israeli company has developed a revolutionary new drug that could solve the problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, the disturbing syndrome that has been wiping out bee communities and threatening agricultural production all over the world.

The drug, Remembee, which was developed by Beeologics, has completed successful clinical trials on millions of bees in North America. Not
only has it proved effective in maintaining bee health, but it also improved the longevity of bees and increased the honey in the hives.

Based on Nobel prize-winning RNAI technology, Remembee helps the bees overcome IAVP virus, also discovered in Israel, which has been associated with colony collapse in scientific literature.

"It's really a tug of war between the virus and the host. We are helping the bee tug the rope more strongly and beat the virus. We take
advantage of an immune system that the bees elicit for viral disease. But we are really using naturally occurring phenomenon. It's not a
pesticide and it's not toxic," says Nitzan Paldi, CTO of Beeologics.

The US Department of Agriculture has been accompanying Beeologics with its FDA certification process due to the urgency of the need for the drug.
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