Nature's little helpers are facing a problem; we can help.
Since 2006, beekeepers around the world were reporting of a phenomenon in which seemingly healthy worker bees were abandoning their hives, never to return. The majority of these worker bees would often leave behind the queen and other immature bees that were not yet fully developed. With these worker bees gone, many hives were unable to sustain themselves and eventually fell into a collapse. This phenomenon was termed 'Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)' and the impact of CCD has been a scourge to beehives in the United States ever since.
As you probably already know, honey bees are important. But just how important? Well, honey bees have been estimated to pollinate at least 30% of our food crops, including foods such as apples, strawberries, almonds, cucumbers, watermelons, and cherries. In fact, the pollination services that are offered by honey bees alone are worth $15 billion to the United States' economy and roughly $200 billion worldwide. In the past few decades however, CCD has been a growing problem throughout the country. Although scientists are not yet completely sure what is causing these occurrences, CCD is most likely due to a variety of multiple factors.
Image Credit: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab
Below are some of the factors that may contribute to Colony Collapse Disorder:
Pesticides and Insecticides: The increasing use of pesticides and insecticides in the recent years have contributed greatly to CCD. When these chemicals are sprayed onto crops, worker bees are able to transfer these chemicals into their hives. In particular, a special class of insecticides called neonicontinoids have been shown to alter the foraging behavior, memory, and learning abilities in worker bees. In some cases, these chemicals may even lead to death among the worker bees.
Pathogens and Parasites: For some unknown reason, the presence of various parasites, fungi, and bacteria have increased in bee colonies within the past couple of decades. The onslaught of many bacterial and viral diseases may contribute to CCD by weakening the immune system of bees. Additionally, parasites such as the appropriately named Varroa destructor are able to directly weaken bees by attaching to them and draining their nutrients.
Malnutrition: Many researchers have shown that CCD may be due to the nutritional stress experienced by bees, yet scientists are still unsure regarding the origin of this syndrome. In one such explanation, some researchers believe that malnutrition could arise from giving foods to bees that mainly contain high-fructose corn syrup. Other researchers theorize that the lack of a diverse food sources may be responsible for malnutrition in bees.
Because of these different factors that likely contribute to Colony Collapse Disorder, it is not surprising that scientists are unable to find one single solution to resolve this problem. Although the solution to fix this problem will most likely be complicated, there are some simple things that we can all do to help save the bees.
Image Credit: Whole Foods
The pollination services that are provided by bees are so vital that it would be unwise to do nothing about Colony Collapse Disorder. Although current research to reduce the effects of Colony Collapse Disorder has already shown some promise, it is up to us as a collective whole to ensure the survival of these honey bees.