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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In CCD, honey bee colonies lose their workers under unclear circumstances (Cox-Foster et al., 2007, p. 283). It is not unusual for bees to die or colonies to be lost, but the nature and extent reported in the year 2006 was alarming. Statistics gathered in the United States alone show that 50-90% of the bees have been lost so far, due to this scientific phenomenon (Cox-Foster et al., 2007, p. 284).
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 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...
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.
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 disappearance of honey bees is baffling scientists everywhere. Although most people see bees as useless annoying insects, they play an important role in the eco-system. Without bees, agricultural business would cease to exist, so it is vital that bees are saved. Currently, about one-third of the honey bees on the United states have disappeared. It seems that within a few days of having a good, healthy colony of bees, most of the adult population disappears. They can't even find any bodies near the hive. Scientists nicknamed this as CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder). Bees have been disappearing all over the globe. Countries such as Portugal, Poland, Central America, and South America have all reported cases of the phenomenon. When bees get sick, they sacrifice themselves and leave the colony to die to lessen possibility of spreading the disease or affliction to the rest of the hive. What is unique about CCD though, is the sheer number of bees leaving the hive.
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.
The USDA Agricultural Research Service characterizes Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) as a loss of anywhere from 30-90% of the adult bees in a hive leaving behind an active queen and immature bees which quickly die off without the workers. To date no single cause has been identified as causing CCD. Scientists have been studying pathogens, parasites and other stresses as possible sources along with the idea that a mix of things together is the problem. Current research has focused on the few areas which have been identified as a common thread in the different outbreaks. The first is a pathogen like the parasitic mite Varroa destructor or a fungus called Nosema that infects bees, the second is pesticide build-up from treating the bees or the
As indicated by new research distributed in the diary Science, many honey bee species started losing territory as ahead of schedule as the 1970s—well before neonicotinoids were as across the board as they are today. From that point forward, to a great extent as an aftereffect of an Earth-wide temperature boost, honey bees have lost almost 200 miles off the southern end of their notable wild range in both the US and in Europe, a pattern that is proceeding at a rate of around five miles
Oldroyd, B.P. . What’s Killing American Honey Bees? PLoS Biology. Volume 5, Number 6, 12 June 2007, e168.
Colony Collapse Disorder is a dead colony with no adult bees and a live queen with immature bees still present (United States Department of Agriculture, 2015). The bee decline is in part because of the invasive species that bees cannot naturally adapt to (Tirado, 2014). Varroa mites are a big problem for bees right now. Bee colonies die within 1 to 2 years when infested with varroa mites; they attach themselves to bees and are transported from colony to colony (The University of Georgia, 2015). These mites attach themselves to the inside of a bee’s body and
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
When a bee is affected by Nosema, they cannot “control their bowel movements; they are forced to defecate in and around the hive, leaving a distinct red-orange splatter”. The team of scientists looked for the parasite itself, but their results came to the same conclusion as did the previous pests, there was “no connection between Nosema … and CCD” (pp. 30-31). SAVE THE HONEY BEES! 12 Diana Cox-Foster who is the lead scientist for the study of the honey bee viruses came the conclusion that the bees who had CCD “’were harboring every known virus that we could detect using our methods,’” she explained. Cox-Foster theorized that because of the “rapid spread of colony collapse disorder and on the variety of infections found, … [that] a fastspreading and powerful virus had infected the bees”. The scientists discovered “that one of the known honey bee viruses was present in almost all CCD samples”, they also found that the “virus was absent from almost every healthy sample”. The name of the virus that they found is the “Israeli acute paralysis virus or IAPV”. IAPV provides
First of all, there are many reasons believed to be causing this sudden decline in thriving bees. Recent studies show that the biggest components of CCD are caused by parasites, pesticides, neonicotinoids, termites, and many more likewise related factors. Author of the article, on IFLScience, states, “Parasites have affected 42 percent of commercial hives between April and June 2017” (American Honeybees). These pesticides