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In recent years many countries observed the phenomenon of the mass death of bees and bees’ disappearance. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, 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. European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree while the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) or sometimes honey bee depopulation syndrome (HBDS) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive abruptly disappear. Colony collapse is economically significant because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by bees.
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 including Nosema apis and Israel acute paralysis virus). Other proposed causes include environmental change-related stresses, malnutrition and pesticides (e.g. neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid), and migratory beekeeping. More speculative possibilities have included both cell phone radiation (e.g.) and genetically modified (GM) crops with pest control characteristics. It has also been suggested that it may be due to a combination of many factors and that no single factor is the cause. Now it is a recognized fact that the syndrome does not seem to be seasonally restricted, and that it may not be a "disease" in the standard sense.
Limited occurrences resembling CCD have been documented as early as 1869 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).
From 1972 to 2006, there was a dramatic reduction in the number of feral honeybees in the U.S. (now almost absent); 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.
Since winter 2006 over 1 million bee colonies have died all over the world. In 2007 in various regions of Europe the loss of bee colonies was from 25% to 60%. In 2007-2008 the population of bees in Russia dropped almost by 40%. Today this problem concerns the Asian countries as well.
It’s a rather worrying fact that in 2009 the U.S. reported 1/3rd of the bees did not survive the winter. This has led to fears of a widespread 'biological disaster'. In the U.S., at least 24 different states as well as portions of Canada have reported at least one case of CCD. In a survey of 384 responding beekeepers from 13 states, reporting the number of hives containing few or no bees in spring, 23.8% met the specified criteria for CCD (that 50% or more of their dead colonies were found without bees and/or with very few dead bees in the hive or apiary). In the U.S., CCD-suffering operations had a total loss of 45% compared to the total loss of 25% of all colonies experienced by non-CCD suffering beekeepers in 2006-2007.
In the winter of 2008 a survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS) and Apiary inspectors showed that 36% of America's 2.4 million hives were lost to CCD. The survey covered almost 20% of America's 1,500 commercial beekeepers. The survey suggested an increase of 11% over the losses of 2007, and 40% over the losses of 2006.
"Mass death of bees" phenomenon
In recent years many countries observed the phenomenon of the mass death of bees and bees’ disappearance. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, 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. European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree while the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) or sometimes honey bee depopulation syndrome (HBDS) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive abruptly disappear. Colony collapse is economically significant because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by bees.
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 including Nosema apis and Israel acute paralysis virus). Other proposed causes include environmental change-related stresses, malnutrition and pesticides (e.g. neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid), and migratory beekeeping. More speculative possibilities have included both cell phone radiation (e.g.) and genetically modified (GM) crops with pest control characteristics. It has also been suggested that it may be due to a combination of many factors and that no single factor is the cause. Now it is a recognized fact that the syndrome does not seem to be seasonally restricted, and that it may not be a "disease" in the standard sense.
Limited occurrences resembling CCD have been documented as early as 1869 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).
From 1972 to 2006, there was a dramatic reduction in the number of feral honeybees in the U.S. (now almost absent); 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.
Since winter 2006 over 1 million bee colonies have died all over the world. In 2007 in various regions of Europe the loss of bee colonies was from 25% to 60%. In 2007-2008 the population of bees in Russia dropped almost by 40%. Today this problem concerns the Asian countries as well.
It’s a rather worrying fact that in 2009 the U.S. reported 1/3rd of the bees did not survive the winter. This has led to fears of a widespread 'biological disaster'. In the U.S., at least 24 different states as well as portions of Canada have reported at least one case of CCD. In a survey of 384 responding beekeepers from 13 states, reporting the number of hives containing few or no bees in spring, 23.8% met the specified criteria for CCD (that 50% or more of their dead colonies were found without bees and/or with very few dead bees in the hive or apiary). In the U.S., CCD-suffering operations had a total loss of 45% compared to the total loss of 25% of all colonies experienced by non-CCD suffering beekeepers in 2006-2007.
In the winter of 2008 a survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS) and Apiary inspectors showed that 36% of America's 2.4 million hives were lost to CCD. The survey covered almost 20% of America's 1,500 commercial beekeepers. The survey suggested an increase of 11% over the losses of 2007, and 40% over the losses of 2006.
There are also putative cases reported by the media from India, Brazil and parts of Europe. Since the beginning of the 1990s, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Slovenia and the Netherlands have been affected by honey bee disappearances. Austria and United Kingdom (where it has been dubbed the "Mary Celeste" phenomenon (after a ship whose crew disappeared in 1872) have also reportedly been affected.
The article is based on the facts derived from The Free Encyclopedia - Wikipedia on conditions of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike.
