As honeybees vanish, agriculture may get stung

(from: http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/16863431.htm)

Jimmy Odom of Charlotte got a big surprise recently when about 30 percent of his 25 carefully tended colonies of honeybees vanished.

They left no trail to follow. No dead bodies for pathologists to examine. No witnesses.

They just disappeared. And honeybees are disappearing across the nation.

Odom and other beekeepers are baffled. Because no one is sure what causes the problem, honeybee scholars created a name for it in January — Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, and are searching for a cause.

“Nobody knows but the bees,” Odom said. “It’s just a mystery.”

So what if bees disappeared?

Bees pollinate crops in gardens, farms and orchards. Officials say bees are essential to the cucumber, blueberry, strawberry, apple, melon and squash crops, adding an average of $88 million annually to the value of the crops in North Carolina alone. Counting their value to other crops such as cotton, peanuts and soybeans, they increase the total value by $154 million a year.

In South Carolina, bees also pollinate millions of dollars worth of crops including apples, blueberries, cucumbers, strawberries, squash, and melons.

“The honeybee is, by far, the most beneficial insect,” says Charles Heatherly, president of the N.C. State Beekeepers Association. “It pollinates one-third of the food we eat.”

The disorder has been confirmed in two dozen states, but is presumed to affect honeybees across the continent.

Cornell University estimates honeybees pollinate more than $14 billion worth of crops in the United States. Florida, which has about 200,000 of the country’s 2 million commercial hives, may have lost 30 percent to 40 percent of its hives in the past six months.

Entomologist David Tarby of N.C. State University said no one knows whether the cause of CCD is a virus, bacteria, parasitic mites, environmental stress or something else.

Entomologist Mike Hood of Clemson University calls it “a fast-moving mystery,” but a small problem so far. The Carolinas each have about 2,000 beekeepers, the bulk of them hobbyists whose bees make honey as well as pollinate crops.

“The symptoms that the beekeepers reported on CCD seems to be that the adult population is suddenly gone,” Tarby said. Unlike a killing by pesticides, it leaves no dead bees behind, he said.

Lack of food is not the problem. A brood of very young bees is often left with a queen, signifying that collapse of the colony was rapid, said Tarby, one in a group of scientists from several states and the U.S. Department of Agriculture working on the mystery.

A lucky event, he said, would be finding a colony collapse in progress, which would allow a detailed study of the bees and their behavior.

With fewer honeybees likely to be seen this summer, gardeners should use care with insecticides such as Sevin that are lethal to bees.

Without honeybees or bumblebees to pollinate such crops as cucumbers, squash and melons, gardeners may have to resort to hand pollination. That means using cotton swabs to move pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers, which ensures development of the fruit.

Date Posted: Friday, March 9th, 2007
Categories: Bee Disorder, Bee Colony, Colony Collapse, Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD, Honey Bee
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Sue Bee Feeling ‘Sting’ Of Bee Colony Disorder

(From http://www.ktiv.com/News/index.php?ID=10869)

Thousands of honey bee colonies across the country are mysteriously disappearing. Researchers want to know why. And, so does a Sioux City company, that relies on honey to make money.

These worker bees have a job to do. They make the honey for their colony. But, thousands of them have moved out or died off… leaving the queen bee and baby bees behind. Researchers call it Colony Collapse Disorder. “The colonies are healthy,” says Bill Huser, VP Research & Development. “They have adequate food supply and young bees there, but adult bees are disappearing.”

The disorder wipes out the worker bees in a matter of weeks. Bad news for the world’s largest honey distributor… Sue Bee Honey. It relies on 325 beekeepers in 25 states to produce 40 million pounds of honey each year. “We depend on our members honey, obviously, to fill our packing needs,” said Mark Mammen, Executive V.P.

Some of the beekeepers who contribute to Sue Bee Honey report losses of up to 80%. And officials here say, if this trend continues, it could take a bite out of the bottom line. “If beekeepers continually have to try to replace half of their outfit over time, it’s going to put a lot of them out of business,” said Mammen.

Besides the bottles, honey bees are responsible for one third of what you eat. They grow millions of dollars worth of cash crops in the U.S. Without their buzz, there could be less food on your supermarket shelf. “The fruit that we get from our fruit trees plus some of the garden crops like cucumbers, squash and others are actually the result of flowers being pollinated by honey bees,” said Huser.

Researchers are trying to figure out what’s wrong with the worker bees. It’s a mystery that’s left the honey bee industry to feel the sting.

Culprits include parasitic mites, chemicals or viruses. While some cases of Colony Collapse Disorder have been reported in Iowa, the hardest hit states include Montana, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and California.

Date Posted: Friday, March 9th, 2007
Categories: Bee Disorder, Bee Colony, Colony Collapse, Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD, Honey Bee
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Scale Of The Disorder

(as reported from wikipedia.org)

At least 22 different states as well as portions of Canada are known to have been affected by Colony Collapse Disorder. The disorder has been identified in a geographically diverse group of states including Georgia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California. In some states the loss of honey bee colonies is estimated as high as 75 percent of the population. The phenomenon is particularly important for crops such as the almond growing in California, where honey bees are the predominant pollinator and the crop value in 2006 was $US 1.5 billion. In 2000, the total U.S. crop value that was wholly dependent on the honey bee pollination was estimated to exceed $US 15 billion.

Honey bees are responsible for approximately one third of the United States crop pollination including such species as: almonds, peaches, soybeans, apples, pears, pumpkins, cucumbers, cherries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries; many but not all of these plants can be (and often are) pollinated by other bees in the U.S., but typically not on a commercial scale. Most native pollinators cannot be utilized as easily or as effectively as honey bees, whose colonies can be moved from crop to crop as needed, and will visit many plants in large numbers. The commercial viability of these crops is therefore strongly tied to the beekeeping industry.

Date Posted: Thursday, March 8th, 2007
Categories: Bee Disorder, Bee Colony, Colony Collapse, Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD, Honey Bee
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Possible causes of CCD

Here are some theories as reported from wikipedia.org

While the exact mechanisms of CCD are unknown, pathogens, pesticides or mite associations are suspected as causative agents. Whether any single factor is responsible, or a combination of factors (acting independently in different areas affected by CCD, or acting in tandem), is still unknown; it is likewise still uncertain whether this is a genuinely new phenomenon, as opposed to a known phenomenon that previously only had a minor impact.

  • At present, the primary source of information, and presumed “lead” group investigating the phenomenon, is the Colony Collapse Disorder Working Group, based primarily at Penn State University. Their preliminary report pointed out some patterns, but drew no strong conclusions.
  • One such pattern was that all producers in a preliminary survey noted a period of “extraordinary stress” affecting the colonies in question prior to the die-off, most commonly involving poor nutrition and/or drought; accordingly, there is at least some possibility that this phenomenon is correlated to nutritional stress, and may not manifest in healthy, well-nourished colonies.
  • Some researchers have commented that the pathway of propagation functions in the manner of a contagious disease; however, there is some sentiment that the disorder may involve an immunosuppressive mechanism, not unlike the analog of HIV in humans, potentially linked to the aforementioned “stress” leading to a weakened immune system. Specifically, according to researchers at Penn State: “The magnitude of detected infectious agents in the adult bees suggests some type of immunosuppression.” These researchers have further suggested a connection between Varroa destructor mite infestation and CCD, suggesting that a combination of these bee mites, deformed wing virus (which the mites transmit) and bacteria work together to suppress immunity and may be one cause of CCD.  This research group is reported to be focusing on a search for possible viral, bacterial, or fungal pathogens which may be involved.
  • Some researchers have attributed the syndrome to the practice of feeding high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to supplement winter stores. The variability of HFCS may be relevant to the apparent inconsistencies of results. However, if this were the sole factor involved, this should also lead to the exclusive appearance of CCD in wintering colonies being fed HFCS, but many reports of CCD occur in other contexts, with beekeepers who do not use HFCS.
  • Some have suggested that the syndrome may be an inability by beekeepers to correctly identify known diseases such as European foulbrood or Nosema. The testing and diagnosis of samples from affected colonies (already performed) makes this highly unlikely, as the symptoms are fairly well-known and differ from what is classified as CCD.
  • One of the more common general hypotheses, pesticides (or, more technically, insecticides), is particularly difficult to evaluate for several reasons. First, the variety of pesticides in use makes it difficult to test for all possible pesticides simultaneously. Second, many commercial beekeeping operations are mobile, transporting hives over large geographic distances over the course of a season, potentially exposing the colonies to different pesticides at each location. Third, the bees themselves place pollen and honey into long-term storage, effectively, meaning that there may be a delay of anywhere from days to months before contaminated provisions are fed to the colony, negating any attempts to associate the appearance of symptoms with the actual time at which exposure to pesticides occurred. Pesticides used on bee forage are far more likely to enter the colony via the pollen stores rather than via nectar (because pollen is carried externally on the bees, while nectar is carried internally, and may kill the bee if too toxic), though not all potentially lethal chemicals, either natural or man-made, affect the adult bees - many primarily affect the brood, but brood die-off does not appear to be happening in CCD. Most signficantly, brood are not fed honey, and adult bees consume very little pollen; accordingly, the pattern in CCD suggests that if contaminants or toxins from the environment are responsible, it is most likely to be via the honey, as it is the adults that are dying (or leaving), not the brood. To date, most of the evaluation of possible roles of pesticides in CCD have relied on the use of surveys submitted by beekeepers, but it seems likely that direct testing of samples from affected colonies will be needed, especially given the possible role of systemic insecticides (which are applied to the soil and taken up into the plant’s tissues, including pollen and nectar), which may be applied to a crop when the beekeeper is not present. No detailed studies of toxicity or pesticide residue in remaining honey or pollen in failed colonies are yet published, however.
  • Most beekeepers affected by CCD report that they use antibiotics and miticides in their colonies, though the lack of uniformity as to which particular chemicals are used[3] makes it seem unlikely that any single such chemical is involved. However, it is possible that not all such chemicals in use have been tested for possible effects on honey bees, and could therefore potentially be contributing to the CCD phenomenon.
  • Certain plants’ nectars (and even some pollens) such as rhododendrons, azaleas, Passiflora, almond[citation needed], aconites, hellebore, skunk cabbage, golden rain tree, Jessamine, Aloe littoralis, oleander and Chamaecrista fasciculata (Partridge-pea) are a few of the species known to be mildly toxic to poisonous to bees (and humans). These plants nectar’s are known to include toxic or poisonous substances including alkaloids, anthraquinones, grayanotoxin and andromedotoxin. Catalpa speciosa (makes bees mildly to very enebriated), honey from Kalmia latifolia, the “mountain laurel” of the northern United States, and allied species such as sheep laurel, Kalmia angustifolia, can produce sickness or even death. The nectar of the “wharangi bush”, Melicope ternata, in New Zealand also produces toxic honey, and this has been fatal. Datura plants, belladonna flowers, henbane (Hyoscamus niger), and Serjania lethalis (a liana used in making fish killing mixtures) from Brazil also produce toxins at dangerous to deadly levels in honey. The changing climate, range and other environmental factors are enabling more of some of these plants’ nectars to potentially affect bees and other nectar gatherers.
  • When a colony is dying, and there are other healthy colonies nearby (as is typical in a bee yard), those healthy colonies may enter the dying colony and rob its provisions for their own use. If the dying colony’s provisions were contaminated (by natural or man-made toxins), the resulting pattern (of healthy colonies becoming sick when in proximity to a dying colony) would suggest that of a contagious disease. However, it is often reported in CCD cases that provisions of dying colonies are not being robbed, suggesting that at least this particular factor is not involved in CCD. Furthermore, even if pollen were contaminated in a dead or dying colony, honey bees do not rob pollen stores, only honey.
  • Potential effects of gathering pollen and nectar from genetically modified (GM) crops that produce Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin have not been investigated in great detail, but the primary crops involved (corn, and tobacco) are not preferred plants for honey bees (if they visit the plants, they typically do so when there is no other food available; they will gather only pollen from corn, and rarely visit tobacco blossoms). Cotton is highly subject to bee visitation for nectar, but there is little evidence of toxicity of GM cotton, other than that from insecticides used during bloom. Furthermore, the effect of Bt on insects is as a larvicide, whereas the CCD phenomenon involves the disappearance of the adult bees. It is therefore highly unlikely the syndrome is related in any way to GM crops. This focus on Bt is only a known toxin. The somewhat to very random approach of creating GM varieties does not include investigating all the ways in which the variety is affected, so other effects, like poisonous pollen or nectar may not be desired in the creation or even been noted by researchers.

Date Posted: Thursday, March 8th, 2007
Categories: Bee Disorder, Bee Colony, Colony Collapse, Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD
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Welcome to BeeDisorder.com!

Welcome to BeeDisorder.com.

This is where you can find the most up to date information on the newly named “Bee Colony Collapse Disorder”.

Please notify us of any news you may have about this important issue.

Date Posted: Wednesday, March 7th, 2007
Categories: Bee Disorder, Bee Colony, Colony Collapse, Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD
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