The Disappearing Bees

For several years now, there have been reports about beekeepers
going to their hives, or colonies, and discovering that their bees had
vanished. Sometimes, all that remained were the queen bee and a few
young bees. Unusually, the beekeepers did not fnd any evidence of
the usual predators of bees, such as wasps or other animals.
The honeybee, which is the species of bees that is disappearing, is the
insect that is most important for the human food chain, the reason
being, that this species is the main pollinator an insect that carries
pollen from one !ower to another" of hundreds of types of food crops,
nuts, !owers, vegetables and fruit. #s a result, many people, including
scientists, have found the disappearance of bees alarming. $n fact,
there have even been suggestions that without bees, humans will face
widespread starvation. This phenomenon, known as %olony %ollapse
&isorder %%&", is a real threat, as, according to scientists, it could
have a dramatic e'ect on honey and food production.
#part from selling the honey produced by their bees, many beekeepers
hire out the bees to pollinate crops. # beekeeper can charge farmers
around ()*+ per hive for pollination services, so losing ),+++ hives is a
big problem, translating to a ()*+,+++ loss in income at every farm
they work each year. ,eplacing lost bees is an e-pensive business,
costing about (*+ per hive in labour and equipment. Therefore, a
beekeeper can e-pect to pay over a quarter of a million dollars in
replacement costs.
Source. /hite. 0. 1++2" The &isappearing 3ees. ,etrieved on #ugust
14
th
, 1++5, from www.honeybees.com
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The Honey Bee Mystery Called Colony Collapse
Disorder
The honey bee is one of the most important pollinators known to man.
7oney bee pollination is responsible for the growth of all fruit and
many vegetables as well as food for animals. $t is estimated that bees
pollinate a third of #merican food and three quarters of the plants,
including crops, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, even cotton that is
used in fabrics. The value of the honey bee, in United States crops
alone, is said to be about )* billion dollars. The truth is that without
pollination provided by the honey bee, much of the food that we eat
and now take for granted would disappear.
)
The fact is that most of the pollination for more than ninety commercial
crops grown throughout the United States is provided by the honey
bee. 8verall, about one third of human nutrition is directly due to crops
grown through bee pollination. #lbert 9instein certainly recogni:ed the
value of the honey bee when he said that if the bee disappeared from
the earth, then man would only have four years of life left.
/e should hope that 9instein was wrong in his comment because the
honey bee is now disappearing at a sudden and alarming rate. $t is
estimated that 1; billion bees have disappeared since Spring 1++4. $n
the United States, up to 1*< of the managed honey bee population
has disappeared in twenty four states.
$n %anada, beekeepers claim that ;+< of their beehives have died.
9uropean beekeepers have observed a similar phenomenon in
3elgium, France, =etherlands, >oland, ?reece, $taly, >ortugal, Spain,
Swit:erland, and ?ermany. The rate of bee loss is so dramatic that it
has been given the name %olony %ollapse &isorder %%&".
/hen %%& occurs, bees leave their colonies, or hives, to die elsewhere,
over a period of about one week. The few bees left behind in the
colony usually carry a tremendous number of viruses, some carrying
fve or si- viruses at a time. $t is assumed from these fndings that %%&
suppresses the bees@ immune system in some way. This has led to
speculation that %%& could be an A#$&SA like virus in bees.
# colony which has collapsed from %%& generally has all of the
following features. There is a complete absence of adult bees in
colonies. #lthough it is believed the bees have died, there is little or no
trace of dead bees in or around the colonies. $nside the colony, unborn
bees can be found, as can food stores, both honey and bee pollen. $n
addition, when the hive is abandoned, it is not immediately robbed by
other bees
Source. Smith. 0. 1++B". The Honey Bee Mystery Called Colony
Collapse Disorder. ,etrieved on C+
th
#ugust, 1++5 from
http.DDwww.worldviews.org
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Why Bees are Dying
3eekeeping is big business with U.S farmers bringing in more than $
million hives also called colonies" packed with about ;+ billion bees,
Eust to pollinate the #merican almond crop. This pollination is worth
1
about () billion in e-ports. Fany other crops, such as avocados, apples
and melons, depend on the work of bees too. $n the U.S. an estimated
()* billion worth of crops are pollinated by commercial honey bees
each year.
3eehives have always been diGcult to keep because of problems with
nutrition and health, but now the issue of %olony %ollapse &isorder is
causing great concern to beekeepers. 9vidence seems to suggest that
%%& is caused by, not one, but a number of factors working together.
#cute paralysis virus #>H" was frst discovered by scientists in 1++1
and causes trembling, paralysis and death in bees. The virus has been
found in many of the colonies abandoned by bees, but is also, on rare
occasions, present in healthy colonies. # recent study introduced #>H
into a healthy beehive enclosed in a greenhouse. 3ees began dying
within a week and researchers observed healthy bees removing the
paralysed bees and carrying them as far as possible from the hive. This
could be one cause of %%& say researchers.
#nother possible cause could be pesticides. &esigned to protect crops
from pests, these to-ins may be harmful to bees. $n ?ermany, many
beekeepers are blaming one particular pesticide for the collapse of
many colonies in Fay 1++2. Scientists however, say that tests on the
dead bees found fairly low levels of the pesticide in nearly every case.
$n theory though, the insecticide could paralyse the bees when they
are out gathering nectar.
Fodern life could be another reason for %%&. Fany beekeepers are
e-tending the pollination season, giving their bees little time to rest
before taking them to pollinate more crops. $n addition, recent
droughts could make it diGcult for the bees to fnd nectar, meaning
they are overworked. The stress caused by these factors could upset
the beesI immune systems, making them more susceptible to disease.
Some scientists have suggested that Harroa mites, creatures which
suck the beesI blood, could be responsible for the problem. They leave
the bees with open wounds which can become infected and also
deprive them of nutrition. These mites, as well as fungi and other
mites, can invade a hive and cause problems for the bees.
/hatever the reason, without bees, humans face huge problems.
9ighty percent of the worldIs crop plants depend on pollination. The
C
fewer bees pollinating felds, the lower the yield from every acre of
food crops we eat. /ithout bees, our food will disappear.
Source. /hy 3ees are &ying n.d.". ,etrieved on #ugust )4th 1++5
from http.DDhowhiveswork.com
Two Bees or not Two Bees
The loss of the bee population raises several serious concerns. 3ees
are important to the food supply because they are primary pollinators
for most agricultural crops. $f they die out, then the food supply will fall
and more people all over the world will become hungry. $t will also
a'ect individual farmers. $f it becomes too e-pensive to replace dead
bees, too many commercial pollinators may go out of business. The
disappearance of bees also a'ects honey production. /ith less honey
available, the price of honey goes up. #t present, across the U.S., it is
almost impossible to buy honey.
&avidson, 0. 1++B".Two Bees or not Two Bees. ,etrieved on Sept.);
th

1++5 from http.DDwww.mysanantonio.org
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Main
Entry: colony collapse disorder
Part of
Speech: n
Defnition: the mysterious disappearance of beehives, purportedly
due to an ailment of honeybees
Exaple: The term %olony %ollapse &isorder was originally applied
to perceived disappearances of /estern honey bee
colonies in a minority of regions of =orth #merica in late
1++4.
Etyology: 1++4
;
Source. colony collapse disorder. n.d.". Dictionary.com's 21st Century
Lexicon. ,etrieved September 12, 1++5, from &ictionary.com website.
http.DDdictionary.reference.comDbrowseDcolony collapse disorder
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