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Colony Collapse Disorder and Pesticides
From around the year 2006, many bee farmers in the U.S.A and some parts of Europe started reporting sharp declines in their bee stocks. The reason for this declining numbers was not known and therefore scientists named it colony collapse disorder (CCD). Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a not a very old phenomena and it became popular when large number of bee colonies started disappearing. The disappearing was mysterious since no dead bees were found in or around the beehives after a colony’s number was reported to have gone down or vanished. This prompted a lot of study and investigations to uncover the mystery and to establish possible remedies. Among the many reasons for the causes of the CCD was the use of harmful and dangerous pesticides. Timbrell (2002) provides a solid foundation on the effects of toxins in the body of animals with an aim of providing a scientific solution towards the problem. This paper focuses its study on these pesticides with an aim of establishing the effects of the toxins found in the insecticides that could be affecting the bees.
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).
Honeybees play a very major role in the pollination of plants and therefore these huge losses have become a serious concern. There are many reasons that have been floated and acclaimed to be behind CCD and they include pesticides, para...
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...re many and interrelated although some contribute more towards the phenomena than others. The governments of the affected countries must set aside funds that will help in carrying out research to establish the causes of CCD. Countries not affected by this phenomenon must also take all the necessary precautions to prevent their stock of bees from declining in numbers. If necessary steps are not taken as early as now, then many nations risk losing millions of plants due to lack of pollination and eventually we could be a famine stricken world.
Works Cited
Cox-Foster, D. L., Conlan, S., Holmes, E. C., Palacios, G., Evans, J. D., Moran, N. A.,… Quan, P. (2007). A metagenomic survey of microbes in honey bee colony collapse disorder. Science, 81(5848), 283-287.
Timbrell, J. (2002). Introduction to toxicology (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Forsyth, K., Taylor, R., Kramer, J., Prior, S., Richie, L., Whitehead, J., Owen, C., & Melton, M.
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.
Theses pesticides can cause “colony collapse disorder”, which devastates bee colonies and other surrounding colonies. Many doubt that these chemicals have anything to do with colony collapse disorder, but “the doubt some are casting on the role of these toxic chemicals in colony collapse is unconvincing to many beekeepers across the country, who have observed it all first-hand and know the patterns better than anyone.” (Judge) There is a pesticide called neonicotinoids or “neonics” that are not only toxic to bees and other pollinators, but can also wipe out whole colonies. There
But along with crops, comes along pests and when pests come, so do pesticides. Pesticides cannot tell the difference between pollinators and pests, because of this; the bees are suffering greatly. One of the biggest reasons for the bee population declining is the drastic use of one of the many pesticides “neonicotinoid”. A neonicotinoid, a type of
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
Bees play a crucial role in the ecosystem of the world and the food supply, but bees are dying more rapidly than ever before. There are many factors to why bees are dying off; however, one of the main reasons is neonicotinoids. In the U.S, crops are planted with over 143 million acres of seeds filled with clothianidin and imidacloprid each year (Bleifuss). These are two of the most popular types of neonics used today on farmland. But neonics do not just affect the bees, they affect their hives as well. In 2006, many hives started to become empty, with all the bees vanishing or dead. This was called colony collapse disorder, or CCD. In a study by experts at Harvard School of Public Health, in cases when bees abandoned their hives near the winter
In recent years, millions of bees have been dying off leaving consequences for our environment. We rely on bees to pollinate 71 out of the 100 crops providing most food for the world. Animals such as cows need their food (plants) before we do, so we can then eat them, as well as plants, as our food. So without bees properly pollenating, we have no food. Global warming, habitat loss, and parasites are a few causes of bees slowly disappearing. A bee-killing insecticide known as neonicotinoids is one of the biggest causes of bees slowly dying off. It works its way into the pollen and nectar of plants, which is very toxic for the bees and kills them when they go to pollinate. This also stops the growth of plants for bees to pollinate in the first
... Lipkin, W.I.. A Metagenomic Survey of Microbes in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder. Science. Volume 318, Number 58848, 6 September 2007, Pages 283 – 287.
Threat of Pesticide Pesticides also known as neonicotinoids has been used extremely often in the fields and has impacted bees. “Overall, 75 percent of all honey samples contained at least one neonicotinoid, said the study, led by Edward Mitchell of the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. Of these contaminated samples, 30 percent contained a single neonicotinoid, 45 percent contained two or more, and 10 percent contained four or five”(Kerry Sheridan). The plants take and soak in the Neonicotinoids which is travels into their tissues and the bees would feed on the plant and take in the neonicotinoids. However, crops were the greatest contributors of neonicotinoids for bees but wild flowers were.
Pesticides are very soluble, which means they can dissolve easily. This is harmful because 50% of the U.S.’s water comes from groundwater. According to the U.S. Geological survey, (USGS), in 2001, pesticides were found in all samples from major rivers with mixed agricultural and urban land influences, and that 99% of samples in urban streams. In 1995, 23 different kinds of pesticides were found in the waters of the Puget Sound Basin in Washington, including 17 herbicides. The USGS also found that concentrations of insecticides in some Urban streams exceeded guidelines for aquatic life. Next, ⅓ of the food we eat is pollinated by bees. This includes almonds, peaches, grapes, coffee (plant), and chocolate (cacao plant). This year, bees have been declared an official endangered species. The main cause of the decline in the population of bees globally is the use of pesticides. Most insecticides are toxic to bees. This effects everyone eating food pollinated by honey bees, no matter who you are, or where you live. Lastly, soil is affected by pesticides. Heavy treatment of soil with pesticides can cause populations of beneficial soil microorganisms to decline. “According to the soil scientist Dr. Elaine Ingham, “If we lose both bacteria and fungi, then the soil degrades. Overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have effects on the soil organisms that are similar to human overuse of antibiotics. Indiscriminate
Velasquez-Manoff (2007) wrote that millions of dollars was designated into finding out a main cause of CCD and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus was pointed out to be one of the largest components. This virus spreads easily from bee to bee, causing this to be one of the most popular viruses known to bees. Similar to humans, when bees catch a sickness, they become weak and are no longer able to pollinate the flowers regularly. When this sickness advances enough, they die. Edelbaum, Gantman, Lavi, Maori, Mozes-Koch, Peretz, Sela, and Tanne conclude that “an early survey of healthy and CCD-affected colonies in the U.S. found a significant correlation between CCD-affected colonies and Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV).”
The population of honeybees has been declining due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). It is a serious problem that threatens the stability of commercial beekeeping and pollination operations in the US. Scientist have not identified the real cause of CCD. Another reason for bee population declining is because of diseases, parasites, and stressors. One stressor is because of pollen/nectar that has no nutrients in it.
Today’s honeybee population; is rapidly decreasing and disappearing by the bulk because of habitat loss, pesticide exposure and other parasites. This rapid
Pesticides are very harmful to the bees. Although pesticide use can be prevented, they have still caused many honeybee deaths. In the TED talk “Why bees are disappearing” by Marla Spivak she presents the reasons why bee populations have been declining so rapidly over recent years. Spivak expresses, “If one of these neonics, we call them, is applied in a high concentration, such as in this ground application, enough of the compound moves through the plant and gets into the pollen and the nectar, where a bee can consume, in this case, a high dose of this neurotoxin that makes the bee twitch and die”. If a bee goes to pollinate a flower that has a pesticide within it the bee will become poisoned by it and end up dying. Even in lower doses it can still harm the bee to the point where it is unable to function well and navigate where it needs to go. This is the very bad since it can be prevented yet it is still a big cause of large bee
...not detrimental, and it’s always possible for people to build up a good relationship with bees. It is quite challenging, but the bees have a job to do and threatening their quality of life will consequentially threaten everyone’s. Another possible choice is to join a local beekeepers' association to become better informed about the care and keeping of honeybees and other steps you can take to stimulate colony growth and combat CCD. Scientists also have been working overtime in an attempt to determine the cause of CCD. They have linked CCD to many factors including the Varroa mite and Nosema. Recently, a Harvard biologist published a study directly linking the pesticide imidacloprid. Still the consensus is that multiple factors are to blame which is why many scientists are looking at ways to improve a honey bee’s health and immune system as the potential solution.