photo by Ellen Nicuta
Scientists have sequenced the bee genome and studied a multitude of pathogens from the varroa mite to the Nosema ceranae, to the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IVAP), as well as other environmental stressors such as pesticides to explain bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). CCD is the phenomenon where worker bees in a hive vanish, leading to the hive’s total collapse. CCD is effecting an increasing number of colonies in the United States every year- 33% of beekeeping operations over the 2009-10 winter. This is, in turn, driving up the costs to farmers to pollinate crops. 80% of the world’s crops rely on bees for pollination.
Now the US Department of Agriculture weighs in with a progress report on Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists are now positing a more complicated relationship among all these factors, a combination of viruses, bacteria, parasites, and pesticides that act together to weaken a hive’s resilience.
The study noted that hives in CCD colonies show a greater number of these pathogens than in healthy hives. Other stressors considered are poor diet and long-distance transportation. Hives are frequently transported to pollinate crops.
In multiple studies over the past three years, scientists are finding evidence to support “the hypothesis that CCD is a syndrome of stress, caused by many different factors working individually, but more likely in combination.”
For more information about Colony Collapse Disorder, and the importance of bees to agriculture, watch “The Silence of the Bees” available for free via PBS.org.
