3/24/2007
CCD - The Plight of the HoneyBee
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Date: 3/24/2007
Title: CCD - The Plight of the HoneyBee
A nationwide honeybee crisis in the United States is fast approaching catastrophic proportions - this crisis is known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This is no exaggeration. Recent reports reflect this phenomenon in 24 states across the country and only since November. The East Coast and Texas seemingly hit the hardest with reported hive losses in excess of 70%. A loss of under 20% is considered 'normal' in the industry in any given year.
What is Happening?
Millions of bees have simply disappeared...leaving the hive never to return. In most cases, all that are left in the hives are the young which will not survive alone. According to Diana Cox-Foster, an entomologist and member of the CCD Working Group tasked with finding an explanation of this phenomenon, "Dead bees are nowhere to be found - neither in nor anywhere near the hives." This behavior is extremely alarming, she states, in that bees are highly social insects and likewise, very out of character for the honeybee to abandon her queen or brood.
Researchers participating in the CCD Working Group including Diana Cox-Foster, are particularly concerned that the bees' death is "accompanied by a set of symptoms which reflect almost every known bee virus" in the remaining few young bees left in the hive - indicative of a collapse in the bee's immune system.
Cox-Foster continues: "Another unusual symptom that we are seeing, which makes this very different, is that normally when a bee colony gets weak and it's numbers are decreasing, other neighboring bees will come and steal the resources - they will take away the honey and the pollen...but none of this is happening. These insects are not coming in. This suggests that there is something toxic in the colony itself which is repelling them."
A Few Theories on CCD
Researchers are looking into a group of pesticides (nicotine-based) that were banned in European countries to find out whether the chemical preparations (still being used in the US) are somehow causing damage to bees’ inherent ability to find their way back home.
Another theory - GMOs - genetically modified, insect-resistant plants are now used in 40 percent of cornfields and various other crops in the United States and could be playing a role.
According to yet another theory, the losses may have resulted from a massive attack by mites, which have repeatedly damaged bee colonies in the past.
Potential Consequences
Consequences for the Agriculture Industry in the US and our economy, in general, could be devastating. According to scientists at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, each year bees pollinate an estimated $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, primarily fruits, vegetables and nuts. The sudden mysterious losses are causing concern among beekeepers regarding their livelihoods and sufficient pollination of crops this year.
Expect prices on much of our produce as well as hive products to increase - possibly dramatically. There will be pressure on the government by a lobbying bee industry to ease regulation on purchasing bees from other countries in order to meet pollination demands - which could be potentially devastating in and of itself. (I'll go into this later...)
A Resolution
No definitive explanation is yet available let alone a Resolution...but, a number of government agencies and universities are collaborating to find answers as soon as possible. In the interim, perhaps government subsidies to the US Bee Industry will help defray the exuberant costs we are incurring that will eventually be passed along to you! That is, of course, if farmers have the fruit to sell to you...
Stay tuned for more on this topic & things that you can do to help...
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