Bee–Fungus Associations
" In summertime, Paul Stamets (D.Sc, Mycologist) has noticed in his garden a continuous convoy of bees from his beehive to his mycelium. This was not a surprising event since in the wild, also, the mycelium and honeybee territories are closely located. But, he thought that the bees might be benefiting from the antiviral properties of those mycelial extracts found naturally near their home. This thought led to scientific lab experiments where he cultured the most aggressive (strong against viruses) mushroom strains and prepared the extracts with which the bees would be fed after. The researchers and he wanted to see if the survival rate of the bees would be affected when they feed the bees with these extracts. Nicolas Naeger(Ph.D. Department of Entomology, Washington State University): “Some of these fungal extracts are really good at reducing viral levels in the bee. So here we have a fungus that is reducing virus levels in an insect”. Scientists and be...