Scientists Turn Bees into Doctors: Insects Deliver Disease Control to Blossoms

The bees you see buzzing from flower to flower may not just be pollinators; they may also be doctors. Scientists have introduced a new method to turn bees into tiny insect medics in order to deliver disease control to cherry blossoms and prevent brown rot in cherries.

"Brown rot is caused by a fungus which significantly impacts the $150 million Australian cherry industry through costs of applying fungicide, yield loss and fruit spoilage," said Katja Hogendoorn, project leader and bee researcher, in a news release.

Usually, farmers turn to fungicide spray in order to prevent cherry brown rot. Yet what if there was a better way to help control this rot without the use of fungicide? In this case, the researchers decided to use bees to deliver a biological control agent right to the flowers where it's needed, using an innovative deliver method called entomovectoring.

The biological control agent contains spores of a parasitic fungus that actually prevents brown rot from colonizing the flower. By sprinkling the spores into a dispenser fitted in front of a bee hive, researchers can ensure that the bees pick up the spores and bring them to the cherry blossoms.

"The 'flying doctors' technology is used successfully in Europe to control strawberry grey mold, but it's the first time for Australia and the first time in cherry orchards anywhere," said Hogendoorn. "The bees deliver control on target, every day. There is no spray drift or run-off into the environment, less use of heavy equipment, water, labor and fuel."

The technique could be huge when it comes to preventing this brown rot while at the same time mitigating impacts to the environment. By using bees as doctors, growers can successfully target blossoms and not other plants. This method also has the potential to be used for disease control in other plants, such as almonds, grapes, strawberry, raspberry, apple, pear and stone fruit.