Mushroom Mycelium: Humble Hope for Honey Bees?
Could our food supply be in danger? Managed honey bees are responsible for the production of over one-third of every bite we take. World-wide, managed honey bee populations, as well as some native bee populations, have experienced marked decline. Managed colony losses have averaged about 30 percent over the past ten years. As research into this decline progressed since 2006, when the phenomenon was first recognized and named Colony Collapse Disorder, it became evident that a major contributing factor has been the rise of multiple honey bee viruses.
The primary vector for at least ten of these viruses is a parasitic mite known as Varroa destructor. There is nothing available to beekeepers to control the viral infections and little available as an effective control of the Varroa mite, which it seems is able to rapidly overcome the effectiveness of miticides used to control it.
They say that “necessity is the mother of all invention.” Colony Collapse Disorder is that necessity. Some scientists estimate that if no solution is found, all managed honey bee colonies could face total decimation within ten years. And, as is often the case, nature provides the clues needed to find a solution.
Almost thirty-five years ago, Paul Stamets, on his way to becoming a world-renowned mycologist and inventor of many novel uses for mushrooms and their mycelial rooting systems, observed that his honey bees were moving aside mulch in his garden to get to the mycelium of his mushroom patch. He watched them sipping tiny droplets exuding from the mycelium and carrying them back to their hives. That simple observation became the genesis for a great experiment some thirty years later.
While presenting at a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talks conference in 2014, Paul had an epiphany. Compounds found in the mycelial extracts of certain mushroom species had been shown to be actively anti-viral. Could those same compounds be of use to honey bees? He communicated his idea to Dr. Steve Sheppard, head of Entomology and honey bee research expert at WSU. That was the beginning of an extraordinary partnership between WSU, Paul Stamets and his mushroom supply and production company, Fungi Perfecti. Using selected mycelial extracts provided by Fungi Perfecti, Dr. Sheppard and his team tested those extracts on living honey bees, first in a lab environment and then in what became the largest field trial experiment on managed honey bees ever. The results were nothing short of astounding. So much so that their findings were published online in Nature: Scientific Reports in October 2018.
Astonishingly, the mycelial extracts of the humble mushrooms used were able to reduce viral load in the honey bees tested by as much as 45,000-fold, with a single dose, in 12 days. More research is needed; however, it is clear that mushroom mycelium may provide a simple, easily applied, ecologically sound and safe component to the devastating problem of Colony Collapse Disorder. Perhaps Paul Stamets is right: mushrooms may indeed help save the planet.
Tom Dadant is the National Science Educator and Herbal Storyteller for Host
Defense Mushrooms. He brings 23 years of experience educating retailers and
consumers on herbal and nutritional information to their mission. Host Defense
is the leading mushroom product company. In addition to their mushroom based
supplements, they are actively working to use mushroom extracts to help solve
the Colony Collapse Disorder epidemic affecting bee populations.
