Colony Collapse Disorder Maysie Smithwick Senior Project Essay March 2014

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is threatening apiaries (bee colonies) around the world, and devastating honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations. Beekeeping is a tradition that has involved humans for millennia, but it in the past few decades it has faced a great peril. Colony Collapse disorder is a complicated issue, however bees are extremely important and must be protected. People are thought to have collected honey dating back to 15,000 years ago. The egyptians held extreme value in honey, 4,500 years ago. Hives were carried over to North America the Atlantic Ocean in the late 1600s by early European settlers. Beekeeping was modernized in the 1700s to better facilitate honey gathering with better constructed hives. All this time humans have valued honeybees, but now they are dying and we need to stop killing them. Colony Collapse Disorder has been reported since 2006. Since 2006, 1/3 of all honey bees have disappeared. Seemingly healthy honey bee populations desert hives,and there is no sure cause of the issue. The symptom of Colony Collapse is simply a disappearance of worker bees with few young and the queen left. Eventually, without enough workers to sustain the hive, the bees left behind perish. In some places, such as Pennsylvania, there have been losses in honeybee numbers up to 50%. Although no one is sure why Colony Collapse is occurring, there are many factors that have been seen to be unhealthy for bees. Neonicotinoids are insecticides embedded in plants

seeds to kill insects. Bees often times collect pollen from plants being treated with neonicotinoids, and take the pollen back to their hives. A study through the University of Naples found that neonicotinoids increased levels of a particular protein in bees that inhibits a key molecule involved in the immune response. When honey bees are exposed to just 5 nanogrammes of neonicotinoids, half of them will die. The chemical has also shown to confuse bees sense of direction and homing instincts, in a study by biologist Mickal Henry of INRA, a French agricultural research institute. Bees are clearly detrimented by neonicotinoids, yet they are still very common in farming in the United States. Mace Vaughan, pollinator program director at the Xerces Society points out that 100 million crop acres and an unknown area of home gardens and urban vegetation are being treated with neonicotinoids. Vaughan does not think it is likely the United States will ban the chemical because it is so commonly used1 . A massive issue with honey bee loss today is monoculture. Monoculture is the type of agriculture most common in the United States. In this system, one crop is grown for miles. Honey bees need to survive with a wide variety of plants growing around them. Matina Donaldson-Matasci points out that in massive flower patches The patch blooms for a short period of time, and then the bees have nothing else to eat.2 When monoculture is present, bees simply cannot inhabit that area. The alternative to this is migratory beekeeping. Migratory beekeepers drive trucks of bee colonies around the country, pollinating fields of crops. This seems like somewhat of a solution, however it is only causing more problems which seem linked to Colony Collapse Disorder. Among these is the unnatural quality of the entire process. Honey bees function in a very specific cycle, and have strong instincts to help
Keim,Brandon."ControversialPesticideLinkedtoBeeCollapse."Wired.com.CondeNastDigital,

27Mar.0012.Web.25Feb.2014. 2 DonaldsonMatasci,Matina."HoneybeesandMonoculture:NothingtoDanceAbout."Scientific AmericanGlobalRSS.N.p.,7June2013.Web.26Feb.2014.

the hive succeed. When bees are being transported they undergo an extreme change in their natural system. Highway noise, heat, the speed of trucks, and being packed together with hundreds of other hives causes them heavy amounts of stress. Also, massive farms very often use pesticides. Clearly migratory beekeeping is tormenting bees, however, Over a million honey bee colonies are moved around the US, going from crop to crop as they come into bloom.3 When bees travel around the country, they can pick up diseases and parasites which are becoming a growing problem in colonies across the United States. Beekeeper Randy Oliver sums up, "When bugs from the east coast have to be trucked to California to pollinate an exotic tree because California has no bugs, it's a pretty whacked-out agricultural system."4 Varroa mites are one of the most common parasites being found in hives today. 300 years after honey bees were introduced to the United States, a group of bees were imported probably from Brazil. The new species also brought the Varroa jacobsoni with them. The mites were likely introduced in Florida, and spread quickly. Varroa mites feed on the blood of larvae, pupae and adults and can reproduce astonishingly fast; faster, that is, than the rate at which bee colonies can replace their losses.5 They are incredible detrimental to honey bee colonies. The sudden plummet of bee colonies after 1985 coincides with first appearance of Varroa mites.6 Honeybee pollination accounts for 1/3 of the United States food supply. Honeybee workers fly from flower to flower collecting pollen as well as spreading it. This is how plants reproduce, and without bees, many crops would be eliminated from our plates. Some crops
DonaldsonMatasci,Matina Covina,Gina."EcologyCenter."EcologyCenter.N.p.,15July2007.Web.26Feb.2014. 5 Wenner,AdrianM.,andWilliamW.Bushing."VarroaMiteSpreadintheUnitedStates."Beesource
3 4

Beekeeping.N.p.,1996.Web.26Feb.2014. 6 Hoff,FredericL.,andLoisSchertz.Willett.TheU.S.BeekeepingIndustry.Washington,D.C.:U.S. Dept.ofAgriculture,EconomicResearchService,1994.Print.

that rely on honeybees are as follows: almonds, apples, apricots, avocados, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, carrots, asparagus, peanuts, soybeans, sunflowers, cotton, onions, cucumbers, broccoli, and countless more. It is simple, people need bees to supply the food we so often eat. As honey bee numbers continue to drop, communities and individuals need to respond. Altering ones life even slightly can impact this issue positively. Although bees are treated with fright in many people, they need to be cherished and embraced. Supporting a bee population in neighborhoods around the country will prevent hive failures and colony collapses. Becoming a beekeeper and owning an apiary is a step which if popularized, can help hugely. Owning a hive of bees will teach people about bees and enforce a better treatment of them nationwide. While gardening, people will often spray plants with weed killer and insecticides. While killing pests may help a garden look nice, it deprives the rest of the environment with healthy bees, and other insects. Planting pollen-rich flowers can help feed neighborhood bees. Owning a lawn is purely decorative, but planting wildflowers instead of grass can lead to a wonderfully diverse treat for honey bees. In ones garden, people often exhibit bird baths, water filled reciprocals. These can also be very useful for honey bees, but they need not drown, so having a shallow basin, or filling the basin with rocks and pebbles for bees to land on can promote a healthy bee population. Buying local honey is a step which is simple but often overlooked. Honey shipped from overseas or around the country can be honey from mistreated hives, or migratory beehives. Buying local honey from apiaries that use natural practices can avoid abuse to honey bees 7. Many fairly simple tasks are required from people to prevent a complete depletion of honey bees. As a quote falsely attributed to Albert Einstein remarks, "If the bee disappeared off the

Thomas,Meme."DigDeeper."RodaleInstitute.N.p.,11Feb.2013.Web.26Feb.2014.

surface of the globe, man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." This statement holds extremely true to how the world would look without the honey bee. Humans, animals, and plants all rely on the honey bee and would suffer greatly without them. In 2012 alone, 21% of colonies were lost.8 Although there is no sure factor which causes CCD, the only way to help honey bees is to remove all obstacles which are proven to hinder the success of a colony.

Kaplan,Kim."RelatedTopics."ARS:.N.p.,31May2012.Web.26Feb.2014.

Works Cited: Bradley R. THE BEE BUSINESS. Fortune International (Asia) [serial online]. April 8, 2013;167(5):1. Available from: Business Source Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 12, 2013. Covina, Gina. "Ecology Center." Ecology Center. N.p., 15 July 2007. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. Donaldson-Matasci, Matina. "Honeybees and Monoculture: Nothing to Dance About."Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., 7 June 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. Greenberg, Paul. "Bee Decline Threatens Entire Ecosystems." DNews. Discovery, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://news.discovery.com/earth/plants/bee-decline-threatens-entire-ecosystems-130725.ht m>. Grossman, Elizabeth. "Declining Bee Populations Pose A Threat to Global Agriculture." Yale Environment 360. Yale, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. <http://e360.yale.edu/feature/declining_bee_populations_pose_a_threat_to_global_agricul ture/2645/ >. Hoff, Frederic L., and Lois Schertz. Willett. The U.S. Beekeeping Industry. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 1994. Print. Kaplan, Kim. "Related Topics." ARS :. N.p., 31 May 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. Keim, Brandon. "Controversial Pesticide Linked to Bee Collapse." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 27 Mar. 0012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Thomas, Meme. "Dig Deeper." Rodale Institute. N.p., 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. Walsh B. The Plight of the Honeybee. Time [serial online]. August 19, 2013;182(8):24. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 12, 2013. Wenner, Adrian M., and William W. Bushing. "Varroa Mite Spread in the United States."Beesource Beekeeping. N.p., 1996. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.