SPOR E PR I N TS BULLETIN OF THE PUGET SOUND MYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY Number 546 November 2018 HOW THE MUSHROOM DREAM OF A “LONG- Mites Contribute to Colony Collapse HAIRED HIPPIE” COULD HELP SAVE THE In the late 1980s, tiny Varroa mites began to spread WORLD’S BEES Evan Bush Seattle Times, Oct. 4, 2018 through bee colonies in the United States. The mites—which are parasites and can infect bees The epiphany that mushrooms could help save the world’s ailing with viruses—proliferate easily and cause colony bee colonies struck Paul Stamets while he was in bed. collapse in just years. “I love waking dreams,” he said. “It’s a time when you’re just Over time, colonies have become even more coming back into consciousness.” susceptible, and viruses became among the chief Bee infested threats to the important pollinators for crops on with Verroa Years ago, in 1984, Stamets had noticed a “continuous convoy of which people rely. mites. bees” traveling from a patch of mushrooms he was growing to his beehives. The bees actually moved wood chips to access his “We think that’s because the viruses have evolved and become mushroom’s mycelium, the branching fibers of fungus that look pathogenic and virulent,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a University like cobwebs. of Maryland professor in entomology, who was not involved in the mycelium research. “Varroa viruses kill most of the colonies “I could see them sipping on the droplets oozing from the myce- in the country.” lium,” he said. They were after its sugar, he thought. He likened the mites to dirty hypodermic needles; the mites are Decades later, he and a friend began a conversation about bee able to spread viruses from bee to bee. colony collapse that left Stamets, the owner of a mushroom mer- cantile, puzzling over a problem. Bees across the world have been The only practical solution to date has been to keep the number disappearing at an alarming rate. Parasites like mites, fast-spread- of Varroa mites within beehives “at manageable populations.” ing viruses, agricultural chemicals, and lack of forage area have Stamet’s idea about bee-helping mycelium could give beekeepers stressed and threatened wild and commercial bees alike. a powerful new weapon. Waking up one morning, “I connected the dots,” he said. “My- At first, mushrooms were a hard sell. celium has sugars and antiviral properties,” he said. What if it wasn’t just sugar that was useful to those mushroom-suckling When Stamets, whose fascination with bees so long ago? fungi began with “magic mushrooms” when he was a “long-haired hippie” In research published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, undergraduate at The Evergreen State Stamets turned intuition into reality. The paper describes how bees College, began reaching out to scientists, Seattle Times given a small amount of his mushroom mycelium extract exhib- some laughed him off. ited remarkable reductions in the presence of viruses associated John Lok / with parasitic mites that have been attacking, and infecting, bee “I don’t have time for this. You sound colonies for decades. kind of crazy. I’m gonna go,” he recalled a California researcher telling him. “It Paul Stamets of Fungi was never good to start a conversation Perfecti. with scientists you don’t know saying, ‘I had a dream.’ ” When Steve Sheppard, a Washington State University (WSU) The Sociable entomology professor, received a call in 2014 from Stamets, however, he didn’t balk. He listened. Sheppard has heard a lot of wild ideas to save bees over the years, like harnessing static electricity to stick bees with little balls of Styrofoam coated in mite-killing chemicals. Stamets’ pitch was different: He had data to back up his claims about mycelium’s an- tiviral properties and his company, Fungi Perfecti, could produce it in bulk. “I had a compelling reason to look further,” Sheppard said. Together with other researchers, the unlikely pair have produced research that opens promising and previously unknown doors in the fight to keep bee colonies from collapsing. Bees sipping mushroom mycelium. cont. on page 4 MEMBERSHIP MEETING Spore Prints Tuesday, November 13, 7:30 pm, Center for Urban Horticulture, is published monthly, September through June by the 3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle PUGET SOUND MYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY Our next meeting highlights mushroom cook- Center for Urban Horticulture, Box 354115 ing, featuring our own Jamie Notman, who University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 will be cooking dishes with two cultivated (206) 522-6031 http://www.psms.org mushrooms—“Pioppini” (Agrocybe aegerita aka Poplar Mushroom) and Shiitake (Lentinu- OFFICERS: Kim Traverse, President2015–2019 la edodes). He promises there will be enough [email protected] (206) 380-3222 for everyone to taste! Daniel Winkler, Vice President2016–2020 [email protected] Jamie came to Seattle in 1986. He caught his Donna Naruo, Treasurer2017–2020 first mushroom show that year and promptly [email protected] (206) 938-2783 joined PSMS. Although he has gone to all the shows since 1986, Luise Asif, Secretary2015–2019 he did not attend monthly meetings until 2000, but he has been [email protected] (206) 365-6741 attending them ever since. Jamie has cooked at every mushroom show since 2000, and in 2008 he took over the organization of the TRUSTEES: 2018–2020: cooking demonstrations In recent years he was organizing chair of Sweta Agrawal, Ciara DeNeve, Mushroom Maynia. Jamie studied culinary arts at South Seattle Lauren Re, Milton Tam, Community College and worked at several restaurants including Anne Tarver Lowell’s in Pike Place Market, Liams, and Stanford’s. Afterwards 2017–2019: he worked as a chef for fraternities for several years. Shannon Adams, Carlos Cruz, Would people with last names beginning with the letters A–K Derek Hevel, Jamie Notman, please bring a plate of refreshments to serve after the meeting? Erin O’Dell ALTERNATES: Paul Hill Brian S. Luther IM. PAST PRES: Marian Maxwell FIELD TRIP REPORT, Sept. 29 SCI. ADVISOR: Dr. Steve Trudell For our first fall field trip, it was cloudy in the morning, but be- came sunny later in the afternoon, and all our members hoping EDITOR: Agnes A. Sieger, 271 Harmony Lane, for good weather and some success at finding some edible fungi Port Angeles, WA 98362 were not disappointed. [email protected] Our host was Paul Hill, and he got lots of assistance setting up the great assortment of breakfast snacks and hot coffee he’d planned for. Thanks, Paul, for your contribution, which was much appreci- CALENDAR ated by all. Our Mason Co. campground hosts, Bernie & Heather, provided us with extra chairs and more firewood and always look Nov. 13 Membership meeting, 7:30 pm, CUH forward to our field trip there. Nov. 13 Spore Prints deadline (early) Seventy-five members signed in, of which about 20 were brand Nov. 19 Board meeting, 7:30 pm, CUH board room new. Our field trip guides included Wren Hudgins, Jesse Clark, Dave & Wuqi Weber, and Andrew White. Since each guide takes BOARD NEWS Luise Asif out up to ten members, all of the newbies had a chance to go out for the first time and get advice from experienced members. A million thanks to all of you wonderful volunteers who gave up Most members found at least some chanterelles, but a few, like your weekend to work on this year’s show. Without your energy Eric Paerels & Laurie St. Aubin, did there would be nothing to present to the public. As always with a very well (see photo). Other edibles new venue, there are challenges, but you pitched in with a smile included several different species of and created a success. Thank you to Kim Traverse, Derek Hevel, boletes in different genera, Cauliflower Brian S. Luther and Milt Tam for organizing the event. Thank you to James Nowak Mushrooms (Sparassis radicata), and for again organizing a fabulous Ben Woo Foray the weekend Angel Wings (Pleurocybella porri- before the show. gens). Bravo to you all for your energy in creating a such a wonderful I documented 92 different species club. of fungi on two picnic tables that A rare specimen, were covered with fungi (including PSMS Annual Show. their benches). Interesting or unusu- Fruits in morning, Eric Paerels & Laurie St. al species found included Mycena Next nightfall—gone! Aubin with their basket of rutilantiformis and Turbinellus kauff- — Judith Cederblom chanterelles. manii. One of the prettiest mushrooms page 2 brought in was Pholiota flammans, with brilliant yellow and condition was also brought in. I counted 63 different species of orange colors. fungi displayed around the shelter ledge, and if conditions had been more favorable then there would have been many more. Thanks The 3:00 pm potluck was delightful, and the day ended with mem- to Wren Hudgins and Jesse Clark for writing colored ID tags for bers working together to pack up the hosting supplies and clean up the specimens as I identified and discussed them for our members. the shelter. This is the third fall we’ve gone to this location, and I received many thanks from those attending, so everyone seemed Our end-of-day potluck was not a large group, but everything was to have a good experience. tasty and appreciated after a day of combing the woods. We had cleaned up and packed up by about 5:00 pm. No one else, except me, spent Saturday night camping there. I used up the rest of the firewood and had a relaxing evening by the warm fire. FIELD TRIP REPORT, Oct. 6 Brian S. Luther I arrived at this location around 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday (spending two nights in the campground).