Bee Colony Collapse Disorder Could Send Us Into a Food Shortage!

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What Is CCD and Why Is a Bee My Link to Food?

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD for short, is a phenomenon where the worker bees suddenly abandon the hive, leaving the honey, the Queen bee, her eggs and babies to fend for themselves.

The bee keeper goes to bed with a colony of thousands of bees and wakes up the next morning to empty hives. The bees are not dying, they're simply abandoning the hives.

The plight of the bee farmer is about to become our plight too, when we try to buy such foods as almonds, apples, and even beef from the store. Without honeybees to pollinate the food, we're going to see shortages in crops, sending prices skyrocketing.

What's making the bee colony collapse disorder occur? No one knows for sure. Some believe the bees are exhausted from being farmed out to pollination areas. Others believe a build-up of toxins drives them away, because after the hive is abandon, other insects wait a long-than-usual time to invade the colony for their own use.

So far, the bee CCD has hit 24 states, Canada, and European countries as well. A full quarter of the United States honeybee population has been lost. Almonds, cucumbers, apples, peaches, and 80 other American crops will feel the sting from this phenomenon.

Pollination fees have tripled, and the farmers will surely be passing that cost along to the average consumer.

Update: A new story says they may have finally found the cause of CDC! Click here to find out why researchers believe a foreing germ introduced to the United State is to blame for this phenomenon.

Contents at a Glance

This Lens Won Lens of the Day on Tuesday, June 26th, 2007!
The Importance of the Bee to Our Survival
Bees Have Been Hit Hard Before

Sound Off About Bees and CCD
Bees Even Affect Your Beef Purchases!
What's Causing Bees to Leave the Hives?

more...

This Lens Won Lens of the Day on Tuesday, June 26th, 2007!

Squidoo says, "Every weekday (or nearly that) Squidoo's Editor in Chief, Megan Casey, highlights a lens that stands out from the crowd, a lens that is unique in topic, approach, personality, tools or timing. Or, you know, just a lens that made her guffaw a little."

This little bee lens did one of the above in June of 2007, and I'm very proud that it was featured and raised awareness about the bee and his world affecting our world.

The Importance of the Bee to Our Survival

Honeybees Do more Than Just Make Honey

While bees make about $200 million worth of honey each year, they contribute to $15 billion worth of crop fertilization in the United States.

Nobody really thinks of bees as the driving force behind our crops. We envision fertilizers, sprinkler systems, and rich soil, but without the honeybee, crops don't produce.

In California, 80% of the world's almond crops are grown - and they just happen to be fertilized by bees. But California has to import the bees, since they have a small bee population (400,000 hives).

Beekeepers ship the bees to California in February, and fees just went from $50 per hive to $150 per hive due to the shortage.

Apple pollination fees doubled, which means apple prices will also go up at the grocery store this year. Farmers have narrow profit margins anyway, so they can't afford to absorb the cost for us.

Bees Have Been Hit Hard Before

Honeybees who pollinate the world's crops have been hit by issues previously. Mites, pesticides, and another mystery problem called "Disappearing Disease" hit the honeybees throughout history.

What's different this time is that the CCD is hitting strong colonies and they're leaving behind plenty of food. Before, they would never abandon the entire brood of bees and ample resources.

What's scaring researchers is that waxworm moths and hive beetles ignore the honey that's left behind, when they'd usually be immediately upon it to scavenger whatever was abandoned.

Sound Off About Bees and CCD

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Bees Even Affect Your Beef Purchases!

Like a little Angus with your meal? Well if the CCD problem isn't resolved soon, you might be paying top dollar for that filet mignon.

Bees play an important role in fertilizing the alfalfa that cows are fed by cattle industry leaders. With no alfalfa, there will be no feed for the cows - or a pricier substitute will be found, and the cost passed along to consumers.

What's Causing Bees to Leave the Hives?

Beekeepers Would Certainly Like to Know!

They're finding proof that the hives are being affected by many things. In a CCD-afflicted colony, researchers find fungi, viruses, mites, and chemicals.

But does this cause a total abandonment? It hasn't in the past. Something has to be linking this all together, and that's what scientists are frantically working on right now.

Commercial beehives are being hit hardest, making the researchers believe it may have to do with the stress of constant relocation.

The bees immune system is weakened, so they fall victim to infection. Their little lives are short enough as it is. A worker bee dies off after only 6 weeks, but a Queen lives on for 5 years.

One surprising study came from Germany, that determined cellphone signals were interfering with the honeybees navigatory abilities. American researchers dismiss this study, but could there be a connection?

Bees and Honey

A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them

by: Sue Hubbell

Amazon Price: $12.55 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $13.95

Sweetness and Light: The Mysterious History of the Honeybee

by: Hattie Ellis

Amazon Price: $11.16 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $13.95

Mitsubachi Kagaku = Honeybee Science

Amazon Price: $70.00 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price:

Tupelo Honey

Amazon Price: (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $9.98

Talk About Random!

Bee CCD Is Hit or Miss

The weirdest thing is - a bee keeper could go to bed one night, wake up and find half his colonies are gone. The other half are going about their busy bee day as if nothing happened.

It's so scattered, that it makes it more difficult for researchers to pinpoint the exact causes. One beekeeper can have his entire business wiped out while a guy down the road keeps thriving in the honey and pollination business.

Spread the Word About Saving the Bees

Symptoms of Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

As stated by http://www.beesurvey.com

1.) The complete absence of adult bees in colonies, with no or little build up of dead bees in the colonies or in front of those colonies.

2.) The presence of capped brood in colonies.

3.) The presence of food stores, both honey and bee bread:
i. which is not immediately robbed by other bees
ii. when attacked by hive pests such as wax moth and small hive beetle, the attack is noticeably delayed.

In cases where the colony appear to be actively collapsing, there is:

1.) An insufficient workforce to maintain the brood that is present.

2.) The workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees.

3.) The queen is present.

4.) The cluster is reluctant to consume provided feed, such as sugar syrup and protein supplement.

Beekeeper Video - Beautiful!

A Beekeeper's Video

Here I offer you a compilation of my videos/photos of my hobby: beekeeping. You can see my blog to get the story to go allong with the photos at http://apiscomb.blogspot.com

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