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The Death Of Bees Explained – Parasites, Poison and Humans

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Photo credit: climatekids.nasa.gov

Honeybees are vanishing from their colonies all across the United States. Western States like California have lost 30-60% of their honeybees, while the East Coast and Texas have lost almost 70%.

It appears that bees leave to look for nectar and pollen and never return to their colonies. The problem is so severe that researchers are calling it the 'colony collapse disorder'.

Researchers are not sure what is going on. They are however, investigating a couple of theories. One of them is that the bees are stressed because they are being made to pollinate more. This in turn has lowered their resistance to diseases, causing them to die early.

A second theory being investigated is the effect of insecticides on bees. Colony keepers are using insecticides to kill mites (little insects that leech off honeybees). Researchers believe this has resulted in shortening the lifespan of queen bees and also reduced its ability to give birth to worker bees.

Photo credit: climatekids.nasa.gov

Whatever the reason, the disappearance of the honeybees is a cause for great concern for farmers across the United States. One of the reasons is the lower supply of honey. The other, even bigger cause for concern is pollination. Honeybees pollinate most fruit orchards, grain fields and vegetable crops. Therefore, if the mystery of the vanishing honeybees is not solved, our fruit and vegetable supply may be affected. Some fruits and vegetables may become more expensive; others may simply not be able to grow. Stay tuned for updates on further developments on this story.

Sources: scienceray.com, cnn.com

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Honeybees are vanishing from their colonies all across the United States. Western States like California have lost 30-60% of their honeybees, while the East Coast and Texas have lost almost 70%. It appears that bees leave to look for nectar and pollen and never return to their colonies.

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Find amazing facts about animals, science, history and geography, along with fun competitions, games and more. Visit National Geographic Kids today!

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25 Jul 2017 | 4 minute read

Here in the UK, and globally, bees are facing many threats. These include habitat loss, climate change, toxic pesticides and disease. The interaction between these makes an unpredictable future for bees and many other pollinators. These threats have led to nearly 1 in 10 of Europe's wild bee species facing extinction.

1. Habitat loss - less forage and shelter for bees

Changes in our land use, including insensitive urban development and intensive farming, have caused significant losses and fragmentation of pollinator-friendly habitats. This results in bees losing the diverse food sources they need for a healthy diet.

It's vital that bees have enough flowers to forage - and safe places to use for nesting, among vegetation, the soil and hedges. But since the Second World War, we've lost 97% of our wildflower meadows, leaving our bees with little natural habitat.

The loss of key habitats on farmland in particular has meant that wildlife, including bees, have become more dependent on protected wildlife sites. Yet government figures show that in the UK, only 6% of habitats protected by EU laws are in '"favourable condition".

a) Intensive farming

Modern intensive farming methods have resulted in the loss of traditional hay and flower meadows, hedgerows, trees and other habitats such as ponds and water meadows.

Restoring more of these natural habitats to our farmland could benefit farmers by boosting the free natural services that wildlife provides - such as pollination and natural predators to eat pests. This is one reason why Friends of the Earth is calling for a sustainable approach to farming. Such an approach relies less on artificial chemical pesticides. It places greater emphasis on wildlife-friendly farming and solutions such as integrated pest management - see our guide on how to grow oilseed rape using this approach.
b) Land use change
Intensive land use in the UK has led to the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats and the threats to many native British species including bees and other pollinators.

So it's more essential than ever that new urban development such as housing avoids damage to important habitats, like the remaining wildflower meadows. What's more it must also incorporate 'green infrastructure' that can significantly benefit bees and other wildlife.

Local authorities have an important role to play in safeguarding native pollinators as they manage significant areas of land, including parks, allotments, roundabouts and road verges. Find out more about the role of local authorities in helping pollinators.

2. Climate change - disrupting bee behaviour

As winters become warmer and wetter, and seasons shift there are signs that some wild species may be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Scientists are starting to detect that changes in climate may be disrupting bee nesting behaviour and their emergence after winter. Climate change may also be as affecting the timing of the flowering of plants that bees rely on for food. The Tawny mining bee has managed to adapt to changing climate conditions, by moving northwards; but it is not certain that all bee species will be equally adaptable. A warming climate could restrict the range of bumblebees since studies have shown they have difficulty moving northwards.

Apple trees, for example, could be in blossom at a different time from when the bees are active. This would mean the bees have less food, and the trees don't get pollinated or produce fruit. As certain bee species move north, there could be only a small area of the UK where apple orchards overlap with the bees they need for pollination. This could affect many food crops in a similar way; it could also affect bees' health.

3. Pesticides including neonicotinoids - harming bee health

Even when applied correctly, pesticides can have adverse impacts on bees by reducing their breeding success and resistance to disease. Scientists have found that exposure to pesticides can impair honeybees' ability to navigate, bumblebees' ability to reproduce and solitary bees' ability to reproduce any young at all.

Pesticides are designed to kill unwanted pests, but their toxic properties and widespread use are also harming beneficial insects such as bees.

Neonicotinoids are a particularly harmful group of bee-harming pesticides. When a bee feeds on pollen or nectar containing them, their central nervous system can be affected. This affects tasks that bees depend on to survive such as feeding, homing, foraging and reproducing.

New research has also begun to show an increase in pesticides being found beyond the farms where the seeds are sown. Learn more about how neonicotinoids affect bees and the wider environment.

As well as pesticides, the use of herbicides in parks, streets and on roadside verges reduces the availability of forage plants that bees and other pollinating insects seek out for food at different times of the year.

4. Pests and disease - double trouble for British bees

Bee keepers guard their honeybee colonies against a range of pests and diseases. These include the varroa mite - a tiny parasitic mite that attaches itself to a honey bee, transmits disease and saps its strength - or fungal diseases that affect the closely knit colony.

Evidence shows that some honeybee diseases can spread to wild bumblebees. It is yet unclear if they spread to solitary bees. Managing honeybee health is one way beekeepers can protect wild bees as well as their hives.

5. Invasive species - bad news for bees?

Some species, such as Carpenter bees, that are not naturally found in the British Isles can become established here without posing any problems. Others can be disruptive - or worse -to native species; for example the Asian Hornet, which recently arrived in the UK could devastate British bee species if they took hold and the Small hive beetle could damage Honeybee and Bumblebee colonies if it arrived here.

Find out how to report a suspected sighting of the Asian Hornet.

Combined effects

These individual causes are bad enough for bees, and there is evidence to show that they work in combination, weakening bees and other pollinating insects. A hungry bee exposed to pesticides and poor weather and afflicted with pests and diseases is unlikely to survive for long. However the interactions between these effects are difficult to untangle. Scientists are continuing to carry out much-needed research into the impacts of all these factors together on bee populations.

Further reading
Thematic Assessment of Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production The Decline of England's Bees [PDF] Policies for Pollinators. The Need for Government Leadership in Backing Britain's Bees [PDF]

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What are the causes of bee decline? | Friends of the Earth

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25 Jul 2017 | 4 minute read Here in the UK, and globally, bees are facing many threats. These include habitat loss, climate change, toxic pesticides and disease. The interaction between these makes an unpredictable future for bees and many other pollinators. These threats have led to nearly 1 in 10 of Europe's wild bee species facing extinction.

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Honey bees - wild and domestic - perform about 80 percent of all pollination worldwide. A single bee colony can pollinate 300 million flowers each day. Grains are primarily pollinated by the wind, but fruits, nuts and vegetables are pollinated by bees. Seventy out of the top 100 human food crops - which supply about 90 percent of the world's nutrition - are pollinated by bees.

"In the last four years, the chemical industry has spent $11.2 million on a PR initiative to say it's not their fault, so we know whose fault it is."
Jon Cooksey, writer, director, How to Boil a Frog.

What's Killing the Bees - and Why It Matters

Worldwide bee colony collapse is not as big a mystery as the chemical industry claims.

The systemic nature of the problem makes it complex, but not impenetrable. Scientists know that bees are dying from a variety of factors-pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming and more. Many of these causes are interrelated. The bottom line is that we know humans are largely responsible for the two most prominent causes: pesticides and habitat loss.

Worker bees (females) live about six weeks in summer and several months in the winter. Colonies produce new worker bees continuously during the spring and summer, and then reproduction slows during the winter. Typically, a bee hive or colony will decline by 5-10 percent over the winter, and replace those lost bees in the spring. In a bad year, a bee colony might lose 15-20 percent of its bees.

In the U.S., winter losses have commonly reached 30-50 percent, in some cases more. In 2006, David Hackenberg - a bee keeper for 42 years - reported a 90 percent die-off among his 3,000 hives. U.S. National Agricultural Statistics show a honey bee decline from about 6 million hives in 1947 to 2.4 million hives in 2008, a 60 percent reduction.

The number of working bee colonies per hectare provides a critical metric of crop health. In the U.S. - among crops that require bee pollination - the number of bee colonies per hectare has declined by 90 percent since 1962. The bees cannot keep pace with the winter die-off rates and habitat loss.

Pesticides and Bees

Biologists have found more than 150 different chemical residues in bee pollen, a deadly "pesticide cocktail" according to University of California apiculturist Eric Mussen. The chemical companies Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, Dow, DuPont and Monsanto shrug their shoulders at the systemic complexity, as if the mystery were too complicated. They advocate no change in pesticide policy. After all, selling poisons to the world's farmers is profitable.

Furthermore, wild bee habitat shrinks every year as industrial agribusiness converts grasslands and forest into mono-culture farms, which are then contaminated with pesticides. To reverse the world bee decline, we need to fix our dysfunctional and destructive agricultural system.

Solutions That Save the Bees

Common sense actions can restore and protect the world's bees. Here's a strong start:

1. Ban the seven most dangerous pesticides.

2. Protect pollinator health by preserving wild habitat.

3. Restore ecological agriculture.

Ecological farming is the overarching new policy trend that will stabilize human food production, preserve wild habitats, and protect the bees. The nation of Bhutan has led the world in adopting a 100 percent organic farming policy. Mexico has banned genetically modified corn to protect its native corn varieties. Eight European countries have banned genetically modified crops and Hungary has burned more than 1,000 acres of corn contaminated with genetically modified varieties. In India, scientist Vandana Shiva and a network of small farmers have built an organic farming resistance to industrial agriculture over two decades.

Ecological, organic farming is nothing new. It is the way most farming has been done throughout human history. Ecological farming resists insect damage by avoiding large monocrops and preserving ecosystem diversity. Ecological farming restores soil nutrients with natural composting systems, avoids soil loss from wind and water erosion, and avoids pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

By restoring bee populations and healthier bees, ecological agriculture improves pollination, which in turn improves crop yields. Ecological farming takes advantage of the natural ecosystem services, water filtration, pollination, oxygen production, and disease and pest control.

Organic farmers have advocated better research and funding by industry, government, farmers, and the public to develop organic farming techniques, improve food production, and maintain ecological health. The revolution in farming would promote equitable diets around the world and support crops primarily for human consumption, avoiding crops for animal food and biofuels.

What the U.S. Can Learn From Europe About Saving the Bees

In Europe, Asia and South America, the annual bee die-off lags behind the U.S. decline, but the trend is clear and the response has been more appropriate. In Europe, Rabobank reported that annual European die-offs have reached 30-35 percent and that the colonies-per-hectare count is down 25 percent.

A European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientific report determined that three widely used pesticides - nicotine-based clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiametoxam - pose "high acute risks" for bees. The nicotinoid pesticides-used in soils, on foliage, and embedded in seeds-persist at the core of the toxic pesticide cocktail found in bee hives.

A Greenpeace scientific report identifies seven priority bee-killer pesticides-including the three nicotine culprits-plus clorpyriphos, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, and fipronil. The three neonicotinoids act on insect nervous systems. They accumulate in individual bees and within entire colonies, including the honey that bees feed to infant larvae. Bees that do not die outright, experience sub-lethal systemic effects, development defects, weakness, and loss of orientation. The die-off leaves fewer bees and weaker bees, who must work harder to produce honey in depleted wild habitats. These conditions create the nightmare formula for bee colony collapse.

Bayer makes and markets imidacloprid and clothianidin; Syngenta produces thiamethoxam. In 2009, the world market for these three toxins reached more than $2 billion. Syngenta, Bayer, Dow, Monsanto, and DuPont control nearly 100% of the world market for genetically modified pesticides, plants and seeds.

In 2012, a German court criminally charged Syngenta with perjury for concealing its own report showing that its genetically modified corn had killed livestock. In the U.S., the company paid out $105 million to settle a class-action lawsuit for contaminating the drinking water for over 50 million citizens with its "gender-bending" herbicide Atrazine. Now, these corporate polluters are waging multi-million-euro campaigns to deny responsibility for bee colony collapse.

In May, the European Commission responded, adopting a two-year ban on the three necotinoid pesticides, and later added the non-neonicotinoid fibronil. Scientists will use the two years to assess the recovery rate of the bees and a longer-term ban on these and other pesticides.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dithers and supports the corporations that produce and market the deadly pesticides. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to allow the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, in spite of a U.S. Department of Agriculture report warning about the dangers of the bee colony collapse.

Also in 2014, President Obama signed the now infamous "Monsanto Protection Act" - written by Monsanto lobbyists - which gives biotech companies immunity in federal U.S. courts from damages to people and the environment caused by their commercial compounds.

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Honey bees - wild and domestic - perform about 80 percent of all pollination worldwide. A single bee colony can pollinate 300 million flowers each day. Grains are primarily pollinated by the wind, but fruits, nuts and vegetables are pollinated by bees.

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Watch first 1 minute 11 seconds

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Food prices and the decline of honeybees

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Food prices and the decline of honeybees

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Food prices could rise if populations continue to decrease

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Reading Exercise - The Disappearing Honeybee | EnglishClub

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Read about the disappearing honeybee. With vocab and comprehension quiz. For ESL learners and teachers.

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Whole Kids Foundation | Give Bees a Chance & Choose Organic!

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Honeybees live in colonies with one queen running the whole hive. Worker honeybees are all females and are the only bees most people ever see flying around outside of the hive. They forage for food, build the honeycombs, and protect the hive. Many species still occur in the wild, but honeybees are disappearing from hives due to colony collapse disorder. Scientists are not sure what is causing this collapse. Honeybees are important pollinators for flowers, fruits, and vegetables. They live on stored honey and pollen all winter and cluster into a ball to conserve warmth. All honeybees are social and cooperative insects. Members of the hive are divided into three types. Workers forage for food (pollen and nectar from flowers), build and protect the hive, clean, and circulate air by beating their wings. The queen’s job is simple—she lays the eggs that will spawn the hive’s next generation of bees. There is usually only a single queen in a hive. If the queen dies, workers will create a new queen by feeding one of the worker females a special food called “royal jelly.” This elixir enables the worker to develop into a fertile queen. Queens regulate the hive’s activities by producing chemicals that guide the behavior of the other bees. Male bees are called drones—the third class of honeybee. Several hundred drones live in each hive during the spring and summer, but they are expelled for the winter months when the hive goes into a lean survival mode.

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Did you know that honeybees are responsible for 1 in every 3 bites of food we eat? That's right! They're the world's busiest pollinators, with a really big job to do. Honeybees pollinate more than 100 types of crops in the U.S., help maintain the diversity of plant life and ultimately, play a crucial role in our ecosystem.

Unfortunately, it's getting tougher for honeybees to survive. Their population is dwindling due to loss of habitat, pesticide and insecticide use, and parasites.

Humans benefit greatly from a healthy honeybee population. Because the future of food depends on healthy pollinators, it's time for everyone - even the kids! - to make honeybees a priority.
Q: Why are bees Important?
Honeybees are vital to our supply of healthy foods. Honeybees are pollinators, which means they travel from plant to plant to collect and deposit pollen - which makes it possible for many flowers, fruits and vegetables to reproduce. Bees also pollinate the clover and alfalfa that cows eat. In fact, one in every three bites of food you eat depends on pollination, either directly or indirectly. So, if these hardworking bees and other pollinators disappear, many of our favorite foods like apples, almonds, strawberries and tomatoes will be greatly affected.

Q: Why are bee populations declining?

A: There has been a noticeable and steady decline in the bee population, which scientists and beekeepers believe may be caused by a combination of factors, including parasites, loss of habitat and increased exposure to pesticides and insecticides. Although the problem is complex, it's not too late to help preserve pollinators - and secure the future of food.
Q: What can we do to help honeybee populations?
A: Plenty! Here are six simple ways you can help these vitally important insects thrive - right in your own backyard.

1. Go wild. Let part of your lawn grow without mowing. Bees love flowering weeds and grasses.

2. Grow native plants. A patch of wildflowers will add color and a nectar source for bees. Cultivate a landscape with diverse colors, shapes, sizes and bloom times. Don't have a yard? Grow pollinator-friendly plants in an outdoor space in your city. (Bzzt: Seed flings are perfect for tossing into abandoned lots or other urban greenspaces. Want to learn how to make one? Download our Inside the Buzz At-Home Guide to find out how.)

3. Create a bee "pond." Bees can't swim or get their wings wet, but they need water, too! Try filling a shallow pie pan with pebbles and water, so bees have somewhere to land and sip some H2O. Bonus: no cleaning required! Bees actually love "dirty" water, which is why they love the water that gathers in saucers under flower pots.

4. Ditch the harmful sprays. The sprays we tend to use on plants and veggies hurt the good bugs and keep us from getting the nutrients we need. Care for your lawn and garden organically and explore alternatives like incorporating plants that attract beneficial insects for pest control. Try a sprinkling of cayenne pepper around pestered plants. Sometimes the best method is to pick unwanted bugs right off!

5. Buy local, organic produce. Support farmers who are doing their best to support bees. Anytime you choose organic food, you know pesticides that can harm our pollinators were not used. Bee on the lookout for a rainbow of veggies and fruits, which contain nutrients that can help our bodies stay healthy - all brought to you by bees! And don't forget to buy local honey! You'll help support a thriving local honeybee ecology, which means that more food can be grown locally.

6. Please don't swat! Honeybees very rarely sting, but they can be be curious creatures. If a honeybee approaches you, be still as she checks to see if you have any nectar. Once she knows you're not a flower, she'll buzz along. While other kinds of insects can sting, like wasps and yellow jackets, they look very different from honeybees. Learn how to recognize honeybees so you'll know they mean no harm. Once you know what a honeybee looks like, help your friends learn, too!

BONUS: get kids buzzing! Spark their curiosity and awareness of pollinators' importance through family-friendly activities on our website, including projects, videos, coloring sheets and more. Check out crafts like building a pollinator puppet or bee colony, reading guides with follow-up activities and recipes, too.

Q. How Can We Engage Our Communities?

A: Check out The Bee Grant program, which allows for schools and nonprofit organizations to receive support for educational beehives. Through the grant, children can observe bees up close and learn about the critical role these pollinators play in our food system and ecosystem as a whole.

For this grant, we partner with The Bee Cause Project, a nonprofit organization that empowers students, teachers and community members to experience the wonder, ingenuity, beauty and power of the honey bee while developing STEAM skills.

To date, The Bee Grant program has provided hives for more than 500 schools, but there are thousands more students waiting for the same opportunity.

During National Pollinator Month in June, the #GiveBeesAChance campaign aims to raise funds to provide new beehives to schools and nonprofits across the U.S. and Canada. Donate to the #GivesBeesAChance campaign and help bring educational beehives to more schools, so more kids can learn about the vital role pollinators play in our ecosystem.

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Did you know that honeybees are responsible for 1 in every 3 bites of food we eat? That's right! They're the world's busiest pollinators, with a really big job to do. Honeybees pollinate more than 100 types of crops in the U.S., help maintain the diversity of plant life and ultimately, play a crucial role in our ecosystem.

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What If ALL The Bees In The World DISAPPEARED?

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Video:Without Bees, the foods we love will be lost

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Video:Without Bees, the foods we love will be lost

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Without Bees, the Foods We Love Will Be Lost

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Nearly 40% decline in honey bee population last winter.  2019

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Nearly 40% decline in honey bee population last winter 'unstainable,'

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How to slow down the bee population decline