But does this research give any clues to the causes of the mysterious disappearance of entire bee colonies over this winter, which has affected up to 70 per cent of colonies in some regions of North America and is now also reported throughout Europe? Entomologists believe that the small hive beetle cannot be the main cause of the problem seen in North America and Europe, as the parasite doesn't occur in Europe at all. Possible causes that have been mooted for the mysterious colony collapse disorder (CCD) range from biological (mites) to the inadvertantly man-made (mobile phones, pesticides, GM crops), and even to allegations of poor practice among bee keepers or compensation fraud.

Bernard Vaissiere, who studies the ecology of bees at the French research centre INRA in Avignon, told Chemistry World: 'I do not think that there is a link between the greater susceptibility of the European honeybee to the small hive beetle and colony collapse disorder. CDD seems related to lower immune