Scientists saving bees by freezing their semen
American entomologists are starting the world's first sperm bank for bees.
According to ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer, the team based at Washington State University will use specialized syringes to import European bee semen from subspecies that live in Italy, Georgia and the eastern Alps.
The semen will then be frozen in liquid nitrogen and used for testing, preservation and insemination in American queen bees.
It is believed the frozen semen can store for several decades.
The team's decision to import European bee semen comes in an attempt to produce offspring that will be more resilient to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a mysterious syndrome that sees worker bees abandon their colony.
Although European beekeepers have also experienced problems with CCD, scientists believe the introduction of European sperm will diversify the American bee gene pool and subsequently lead to healthier bees.
Susan Cobey, a founder of the bee sperm bank project and a research associate at Washington State University told ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer that extracting sperm from bees is a simple and non-invasive process.
"The drone's only function is to mate," Cobey said.
"You just need to apply a little pressure to the abdomen."
CCD is a condition that affects both bees and humans.
According to reports, 33-percent of human-managed hives in the U.S. have died every year since 2006.
If the hives continue to die at this rate, pollinating would become much more expensive.
Consequently food costs would rise, too.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that bee pollination increases crop value by more than $15 billion each year.
In addition to breeding CCD-resistant bees, the diversification of the American bee gene pool will be a welcome relief from a nearly 91-year-old ban on the importation of bees.
In 1922 the United States restricted the importation of live bees in an attempt to protect US bees from a British parasite that was killing large colonies.
