A strange phenomenon grasped the world of beekeeping in the fall of 2006: vast amounts of beekeepers’ hives were collapsing for no reason whatsoever. Beehives full of apis mellifera all over the United States are suffering from what is now known as Colony Collapse Disease or CCD. Over the years, researchers have come up with a slew of theories as to what might be causing CCD such as pests, viral pathogens, fungi, bacteria, and even cell phones, but no definitive reason can be attached to this bizarre overtaking. The illness is characterized by a sudden disappearance of almost all the adult bees in the hive, while the queen and brood are still left with a significant amount of the honey. Without these adult bees working within a colony, the system of becomes broken and the colony collapses. There is research being conducted that points the finger at the beekeepers themselves for over working their hives, since the majority of beekeepers travel around the United States pollinating large crops. Another theory being promoted has to do with genetically modified plants and if they are providing enough nutrients for the bees to survive. This downward spiral that has taken over the honeybee population could eventually interject with our daily lives sooner than we think. Great losses in crops could be the catalyst to loss of actual food supply for humans.
The European honeybee has been pollinating our crops for years. In fact, the honeybee is responsible for up to thirty percent of food in our diet (Kluger). Almost all of Earth’s plants need insect pollination to thrive, especially the ones that are consumed by animals for survival. The honey that bees create is one of the foods they need to live, and it is also a by-product that is c...
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Think for a moment of a world without bees; a world without our buzzing friend. They might look like they barely do much to help our ecosystem. However, bees are a vital part of our agriculture and this makes it vital that we keep them around. The bee population decline in recent years is troubling for both us and our little friends. As their friends, we must do all we can in order to ensure their survival which in turn will ensure our own.
To most, the honeybee can be an annoying insect that has a powerful sting. Yet, the honeybee is so much more than just another insect. The honeybee is arguably the most vital component in the development of our food crops. With roughly 90 percent of our food crops dependent on the pollination of our honeybees, our food system, agricultural development, and diet rest on the work and well being of these buzzing insects. Unfortunately, since 2006 there has been a major decline in the population of honeybees, and has gotten progressively worse because of colony collapse disorder. The first reported increase of CCD was documented in November 2006 in Florida. By February 2007, several states began reporting major losses associated with CCD, ranging from 30% to 90%. A little over a half decade later in 2012 the attention paid towards CCD has grown substantially with more research being done as CCD continues to get worse. The main culprit for CCD, as research has suggested, is the use of pesticides on our food crops. With major corporations such as Bayer making millions and millions of dollars in profit each year in the distribution of pesticides, it is no wonder that nothing is being done to stop this practice despite evidence linking the use of pesticides and the drastic deterioration of the health of honeybees. With the continuation of the use of deadly pesticides and the vital role bees play in the pollination and development of our food crops, both the environment and our economy will be effected directly and face the potential for catastrophic results.
What can we actively take part in to stop the collapse of bee colonies? Bees are such a vital part of our everyday agriculture production, however, colonies are diminishing before our eyes. Colony Collapse Disorder is a massive decrease of bees in hives and it is greatly affecting our crops because bees are not distributing the necessary amount of pollen to crops in order for them to grow the maximum, most nutritious produce possible. There are many solutions that may help CCD, such as banning neonics, urban beekeeping, and interbreeding honey bees with African killer bees. The most effective way to decrease CCD is by interbreeding honey bees with a stronger specie of bees labeled African killer bees.
What is colony collapse disorder or sometimes known otherwise by its abbreviation (CCD)? Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a term used to describe the mass disappearance of worker honey bees from the hive. The result is a breakdown of the colony and insufficient workers are present to maintain the colony. CCD dates back to October 2006, in which bee farmers started reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives. Although colony losses are not unexpected, especially during winter, but this degree of losses was significant. The main symptom of CCD is very small or no adult honey bees present in the hive but with a live queen and no dead honey bee bodies present. It is common for the hive to still have honey present, and even contain immature bees or broods. One of the possible reasons for CCD is the Varroa mites, a virus-transmitting parasite of honey bees. There has been frequently counts of Varroa mites being found in hives hit by CCD. Although CCD is reported in October of 2006, there has been similar cases of CCD. In the scientific literature, there are several re...
All around the world honeybees are vanishing at an alarming rate, according to the documentary Vanishing of the Honeybees. This film features two commercial bee keepers and their fight to preserve their bee numbers. David Hackenburg was the first commercial bee keeper to go public the bee population was decreasing. Approximately two billions bees have vanished and nobody knows the reason why. Honeybees are used all across America to help pollinate monoculture crops like broccoli, watermelon, cherries, and other produce. Without the honeybees the price for fresh and local produce would be too much money. According, to this film commercial bee keeper’s help fifteen billion dollars of food get pollinated by commercial
At any rate, over the years, industrial apiaries bred their queens in virtual isolation from other colonies. Predictably, this has made most industrially raised honey bees vulnerable to fungal infections, mites, and probably viruses as well. Over the past five years, billions of honey bees have vanished due to an as yet unidentified disease termed colony collapse disorder.
There is currently a controversial debate amongst beekeepers and farmers. In recent years, more and more beekeepers are finding large colony losses. This unusual phenomenon is called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and it is used to explain when bees unexpectedly leave the hive. Researchers and scientists are trying to find a cause for this unexplained occurrence as colonies appear to be healthy before they leave.
Miline, Ira Mark. Ed. "The Secret Life of Bees." Novels for Students. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Print.
Decline in bumble bee species have been studied extensively in the past 60 years in regards to the European species. Only recently has data on the American species been gathered, which has been collected since the 90´s. According to D. Goulson, G.C Lye and B. Darvill the decline in bee populations is primarily driven by; habitat loss, the decline in floral diversity and abundance, monoculture agriculture, pesticides, inbreeding, commercial trafficking, pathogens and environmental and demographic stochastic. What’s clear is that the drivers, which threaten the pollinating services to wildflowers and crops, are widespread. The solution is simple but requires a reform in the way society is structured; all the large scaled monoculture crops must leave space for habitat/floral (which words seems better?) biodiversity, which is needed to support viable bee populations in the long term. The information gathered in this journal has been greatly beneficial to my research, not only has it thoroughly explained some of the drivers behind bee decline and possible solutions in great detail with citations referring to other viable sources, it has given me a new perspective on the importance of bees to the human race. Bees need flowers to survive, it is a mutually dependent relationship, and if one of the two partners is going extinct it will drive the other to extinction as well. This is called an ”extinction vortex”. Understanding the importance of bees to the survival humans might ...
Oldroyd, B.P. . What’s Killing American Honey Bees? PLoS Biology. Volume 5, Number 6, 12 June 2007, e168.
The stress that is caused to bees due to transportation in modern day beekeeping practises play a major part in colony decline. The colonies are transported on trucks across the country to regions they wouldn’t usually travel to. Gifford (2010) suggests that transportation stress coupled with a weak immune system could be a possible reason for colony collapse disorder.
The first reports of a massive number of bees dying off were reported in the 1990’s, but the disappearances did not gain much attention until the late 2000’s. Scientists were baffled as a large number of seemingly healthy bees would abandon their hives and never return. The issue of the disappearing bees became so severe that one third of all the honeybee colonies in the United States were lost, and scientists still could not pinpoint an exact cause for the deaths of so many bees, however they were able to come up with a few possible theories. Deeming the decrease in bees the Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD for short, researchers believed that the mass disappearance could have been caused by a number of interwoven factors, one of which is global warming. Changing climates and weather patterns due to global warming causes certain species of flowers to bloom either earlier or later than usual, which means that bees are not always provided with the pollen and nectar they desire when they emerge from hibernation, and in addition to this, global warming has been known to cause harsh winters and extremely hot summers which adds stress to the honey bee’s life (Bee Facts).
The extinction of honey bees will affect us all, from beekeeper to consumer. If we don’t stop this soon, it will end in disaster. Even if honeybees survive, they won’t resemble the bee we have known for eras. This tiny insect may not have a large size or popularity, but it is extremely important. Whether we end up changing our diets, or losing our jobs, things might take a turn for the worse. Therefore, if you cry to save the whales, save the pandas, or save the tigers, add one more thing to your list: SAVE THE
Insect pollination as we all know, is the process that enables reproduction and fertilization by the transfer of pollen performed by insects. Insects are some of the oldest pollinators of plants. Pollinating insects date back to 140 million years ago. Since then, due to how effective insect pollinators are, these flowering plants have become the major group of terrestrial vascular plants. Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms, have imperative roles within our ecosystems, both natural and agricultural. For instance, insects provide food, fiber and shelter for wildlife and humankind alike (2007). It is commonly know that in humans, high levels of fruit and vegetable consumption are associated with decreased risk of chronic disease (Calderone 2012). Aside from these important roles, plants have also been considered as a viable option for fuel sources (Calderone 2012). There are around 300,00 species of flowering plants in the world and without pollination, the reproductive process would be very difficult since pollination causes the production of seeds (Calderone 2012). Of the 300,000 plant species worldwide, a little over 3,000 of these plants have been used as a source of food. Close to 300 of these species are grown around the world today and only 12 of these plants make up about 90 percent of the food sources in our world. These 12 include the grains...
Over the past decade bee populations have been dropping drastically. A 40% loss of honeybees happened in the U.S. and U.K. lose 45% of its commercial honeybee since 2010. This is a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in which worker bees from a beehive abruptly disappear in a short time. These data are definitely not meaningless since bees are a crucial part of the reproductive cycle of many foods. The impact bees have on the agriculture and the environment is far more crucial than we may think. Crops rely on bees to assist their reproduction and bring them life. Bees are renowned in facilitating pollination for most plant life, including over 100 different vegetable and fruit crops. Without bees, there would be a huge decrease in pollination, which later result in reduce in plant growth and food supplies. On the other hand, without the pollination progressed with the assistance from bees, the types of flowers According to Dr. Albert Einstein, “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination…no more men”. That’s why bees’ extinction affects people more than we ever think, and could even forebode the doom day of human race.