Research on Small Hive Beetle in High Security Units in the UK

[Stromnessbees]

The latest edition (Oct) of Beecraft features an article about research on the small hive beetle at the National Bee Unit.

It describes the measures that are supposed to prevent the organism from escaping from the lab, like frozen corridors (-15deg C), high security doors and sealed controlled environment rooms with negative air pressure, and an 'accounting' system for every beetle.

Whatever this research is going to be used for, I wonder if this is not research money ill-spent, given that the same research could be conducted in any institute in the USA without the high security element, as the beetles are already widespread there.

Just remember the Foot and Mouth outbreak of 2007 from the Pirbright lab http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_Kingdom_foot-and-mouth_outbreak
- there is always a certain element of risk left, last not least human error.

The bees and the beekeepers would be the ones who would be the worst off, should anything go wrong, and compensation would be hard to get hold of, see Foot and Mouth.

Doris

[gavin]

That reminds me: I should have renewed my subscription!

I'm not sure where I sit on this one. There is a small risk that the facilities or procedures will not contain it, but on the other hand some people say that SHB will appear here one day by one route or another (maybe imports of fruit and the like), so I can see that a certain degree of preparedness is sensible.

G.

[Stromnessbees]

Just think about the expense. It must cost a fortune to run this high security facility.

And the beetles there are kept in extremely artificial conditions. There was, of course, no mention of bees or a beehive, as you can't keep them in such units. So all the breedig is done in conditions that don't resemble nature at all. The limited size of the setup will further reduce the value of any data gained, as high sample numbers are essential for getting statistically significant results.

Why not, in this case, let others do this research and spend the money on topics that don't pose such a security risk.

Or is it a case of boys playing with toys?

Doris

[gavin]

Is the facility simply for SHB or is it for the isolation of other quarantine pests and diseases? If it is multipurpose then the cost is less of an issue.

I simply don't know enough about what they are doing to judge its worth - or lack of it.

If they made no attempt to prepare for what some say is an inevitable new pest and simply relied on data from the US would we as beekeepers not justly criticise them for that too?

Trying to see all sides ....

Gavin

[Stromnessbees]

I am all for targeted research and being prepared myself, but in this case I wonder if this is money well spent. Maybe it's possible to find out the title of the programme and its budget?

Even if the facility wasn't purpose built it doesn't sound like the best use of a researcher's time to count beetles before and after every manipulation.

And as for relying on data from the US: What quality of data can we get from this contrived experiment that they can't do very easily and much cheaper. After all they are running a nation-wide open air experiment on the SHB already. There are no UK-specific conditions here that they don't have over there. And what happened to international cooperation?

The preparation for SHB should start with prevention of it getting here in the first place, i. e. no imports. I really dislike the sentence 'it's going to come anyway' - as it opens the door to all sorts of negligence.

And when it comes to scientists (SBAi - members excluded of course), we can't be sure that they never lose their marb - ahhh - beetles. Just think of the 2001 anthrax letters, which turned out to be sent by a top anthrax researcher, who had managed to smuggle the stuff out and create all sorts of havoc with it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks

[gavin]

Just wait until I get enough of those killer potatoes ferreted away!!

Beekeepers have been shouting for more research on the ills that befall bees, so I'm hesitant to join in criticising research unless it really does seem unnecessary. Still sitting on the fence ....

And yes, biosecurity is important. There are traps going into apiaries near ports, but finding out after the event is no substitute for measures to reduce the risk in the first place.

G.

[gavin]

.... so I'm hesitant to join in criticising research unless it really does seem unnecessary.

Ahh well ... I should of course have said that I'm hesitant to criticise *this* research as I don't know whether it is well-founded or not (as opposed to well-funded). There is other research out there that is well-funded but not well-founded, isn't there?!

:)

G.

[Jimbo]

Having read the article. I would say this purpose built facility is not just for hive beetle research but also used for other organisms that require high security. My understand of the article is the research is only in one part of the facility in one of the environmental rooms. It would be interesting to get a bit more information about the type of research being undertaken with the beetles and the funding involved to see if it is value for money.
It is not unusual to have a high category secure unit as most Universities and the NHS will have them with all the relevant legislation and safety checks that goes with such facilities.
I also sit on the fence as some research on the beetle is better than no research but depends on the quality of that reaseach