Hacker News Reader

Very much a 'symptoms and not the causes' analysis. This doesn't really answer anything. It's like finding out a virus causes AIDS and not noticing it's spread through frequent promiscuous sexual contact.

What they should be reporting on is: if this is dietary in some way, what has changed the diets of bees? Why are they catching this disease now, and not 20 years ago? What has been changing regarding the environment of bees?

View on HN

> This doesn't really answer anything

Yes, it does; it tells us what is actually killing the bees. We didn't even really know that with any certainty before hand. You're correct that there are some important "why"'s, and "how"'s that aren't known, but one thing at a time.

Not determining the root causes of why the bees are actually experiencing this plague is like thinking aspirin cures someone with chronic headaches.

You can't get to the root cause or find a cure without first finding the cause, can you?

Sure. But what I'm saying is that finding the pathogen is not finding the 'cause', it's more like a symptom. I would have preferred if the article and headline took that attitude. That's all.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com