Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

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Honey bees entering a beehive

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) or sometimes honey bee depopulation syndrome(HBDS)^[

1] is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history ofapiculture, the term colony collapse disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in North America in late 2006.^[2] Colony collapse is economically significant because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by bees. European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece,Italy, Portugal, and Spain,^[3] and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree^[4] while the Northern Ireland Assembly receives reports of a decline greater than 50%.^[5] Possible cases of CCD have also been reported in Taiwan since April 2007.^[6]

The cause or causes of the syndrome are not yet fully understood, although many authorities attribute the problem to biotic factors such as Varroa mites and insect diseases (i.e., pathogens^[7] including Nosema apis and Israel acute paralysis virus).^[8][9] Other proposed causes include environmental change-related stresses,^[10] malnutrition and pesticides (e.g. neonicotinoidssuch as imidacloprid), and migratory beekeeping. More speculative possibilities have included both cell phone radiation and genetically modified (GM) crops with pest control characteristics,^[11][12] though experts say no evidence exists for either assertion. It has also been suggested that it may be due to a combination of many factors and that no single factor is the cause.^[13][14][15]

Contents  [hide] 1 Background 2 Symptoms 3 Scale of the disorder 4 Possible causes and research 4.1 Poor nutrition or malnutrition 4.2 Imidacloprid 4.3 Pathogens and immunodeficiency theories 4.3.1 General 4.3.2 Varroa and Israel Acute Paralysis Virus 4.3.3 Nosema 4.4 Pesticides 4.5 Antibiotics and miticides 4.6 Genetically modified crops (GMO) 4.7 Bee rentals and migratory beekeeping 4.7.1 U.S. bee rental travel extent 4.8 Climate change 4.9 Electromagnetic radiation 5 UK Bee database 6 Possible commercial effects 7 Remedies 8 Media portrayal 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links

[edit]Background

From 1972 to 2006, there was a dramatic reduction in the number of feral honeybees in the U.S. (now almost absent);^[16] and a significant, though somewhat gradual decline in the number of colonies maintained by beekeepers. This decline includes the cumulative losses from all factors such as urbanization, pesticide use, tracheal and Varroa mites, and commercial beekeepers retiring and going out of business. However, late in the year 2006 and in early 2007 the rate of attrition was alleged to have reached new proportions, and the term "colony collapse disorder" was proposed to describe this sudden rash of disappearances.^[2]

Limited occurrences resembling CCD have been documented as early as 1896,^[7][17] and this set of symptoms has in the past several decades been given many different names (disappearing disease, spring dwindle, May disease, autumn collapse, and fall dwindle disease).^[18] Most recently, a similar phenomenon in the winter of 2004/2005 occurred, and was attributed to Varroa mites (the "Vampire Mite" scare), though this was never ultimately confirmed. Nobody has been able to determine the cause of any past appearances of this syndrome. Upon recognition that the syndrome does not seem to be seasonally-restricted, and that it may not be a "disease" in the standard sense — that there may not be a specific causative agent — the syndrome was renamed.

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