OK, I had to search Google for this one. It has to do with honeybees (bees = BBBBB... -- cute
). Most people are aware that there's a worldwide crisis in honeybee populations -- but nobody knows why. Various infectious or parasitic agents have been suggested.
CCD = Colony Collapse Disorder, the official term for the unhappy phenomenon that threatens to upset ecosystems dependent on pollination.
Apimondia = International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations.
IAPV = Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus. IAPV was first reported in Israel but is known to occur in Australian bees as well, which are imported into the U.S.
According to the
American Beekeeping Federation, CCD may be linked to IAPV, as reported in
Science in September 2007. As usual it's easier to show an association than to prove causality -- is IAPV a causal agent or merely a marker for doomed colonies?
