Are commercial honeybees making wild bees sick?: What they found
All of the honeybee colonies tested by the researchers were positive for both viruses, an unfortunate but common occurrence for commercial colonies.
But the number of wild bumblebees carrying viruses varied depending on the proximity to the domesticated hives. There was also variation between the two viruses.
More than 90 percent of bumblebees collected close to apiaries carried black queen cell virus. In sites farther from apiaries, and where no honeybees were foraging, just under 40 percent were positive for this virus. When the researchers checked for actual infections, they found that the proximity to an apiary wasn’t telling of whether a bumblebee was infected with black queen cell virus. That means sites near and far from a commercial beehive had the same abundance of black queen cell virus infections.
The connection was clearer for deformed wing virus infections. Twenty percent of bumblebees foraging close to apiaries carried the virus on their outsides and 10 percent had active infections. But in sites more than a half mile away from an apiary, where honeybees were absent, not a single bumblebee tested positive for deformed wing virus — as a carrier or with an infection.
When the researchers looked at infected flowers, they noticed a similar trend. Of the 20 percent of flowers that tested positive for viruses, all were picked close to apiaries. And the denser the flower patch in these areas, the higher the rate of deformed wing virus infection in bumblebees.
Researchers claimed they found a relationship between bumblebee infections and how close the bumblebees were to honeybee apiaries.
What evidence from the text best supports this analysis?
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Responses
the percentage of bumblebees infected base on their proximity to apiaries
the fact that all the honeybee apiaries researchers tested were infected with both viruses
the fact that there was a difference between the two types of viruses researchers tested
the percentage of flowers that tested positive for viruses and their proximity to apiaries
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The best evidence from the text that supports the analysis of the relationship between bumblebee infections and their proximity to honeybee apiaries is:
the percentage of bumblebees infected based on their proximity to apiaries.
This specifically highlights how infection rates of bumblebees varied depending on how close they were to the apiaries, particularly for deformed wing virus.
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