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1. Colony Collapse Disorder and Pollinator Health

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1. Colony Collapse Disorder and Pollinator Health

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The sudden death of honey bee colonies is known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Pollination is critical to our survival and the survival of nearly all ecosystems on the planet. CCD endangers not only pollination and honey production, but also crop production that relies on bee pollination. Honeybee and pollinator population declines endanger domestic agriculture, ecological health, and the US economy.

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Colony Collapse Disorder and Pollinator Health | National Invasive Species Information Center

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Provides selected Colony Collapse Disorder and Pollinator Health resources related to the prevention, control, or eradication of invasive species.

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2. Colony Collapse Disorder: What Is It, And Why Does It Matter?

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2. Colony Collapse Disorder: What Is It, And Why Does It Matter?

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Over 60,000 bees and an indigenous beekeeper are supported by a single adopted hive. 71 of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of our global food supply are pollinated by bees. The decline of the honey bee population is a problem that can and will affect us all.

Pesticide exposure can be fatal not only to honey bees, but to the vast majority of animals. Losses have increased as a result of the invasive varroa mite (a pest of honey bees). Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus and the gut parasite Nosema are examples of new or emerging diseases. Changes in the environment where bees forage. One or a combination of factors may cause immune-suppressing stress in bees.

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We are happy to have on board guest blogger Greg Long. Greg is a beekeeper and Communications Coordinator at GloryBee, and has nearly completed his journey to becoming a Master Beekeeper. He's currently enrolled in Master Beekeeping apprentice classes through the Oregon State Master Beekeepers' Program. In his piece, he explains what is the Colony Collapse Disorder, why is it important and how can everyone help the bees.

Everybody knows (or should!) that honey bees play an essential role in our ecosystem - the human population simply would not be sustainable without the help of pollinating honey bees. According to the USDA, "During October-December 2006, beekeepers became alarmed that honey bee colonies were dying suddenly across the continental United States. Beekeepers reported losses of 30-90%."
We should all be alarmed!
What's to blame for North America's disappearing honey bees? The ominous sounding phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder is a contributing factor.

What is Colony Collapse Disorder?

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), first identified in 2006, occurs when the vast majority of bees in any given colony - generally worker bees - die out unexpectedly. Because the queen bee needs the nectar provided by these workers to nurse new bees, ultimately the entire colony collapses. Since its emergence, CCD has remained a major threat to the agricultural industry as a whole.

That might sound like an exaggeration, but it's not. According to CNN, "Honey bees and wild bees are the most important pollinators of many of the fruits and vegetables we eat. Of 100 crop species that provide 90% of our global food supply, 71 are bee-pollinated. The value of pollination of food crops by bees in the U.S. alone is estimated at $16 billion and insect pollinators in general contribute $29 billion to U.S. farm income.

Of course, it's not just about the money. Not only would produce prices skyrocket, but some foods could become unavailable indefinitely: almonds, apples, coffee, and cocoa are just a few. And the problem gets exponentially worse when considering the produce that other animals need to survive - without consistent growth of certain crops like alfalfa hay, dairy cows can't be fed. It's important to remember that the global food web is connected in intricate way; the declining honey bee population is a problem that can and will eventually affect us all.

What Are The Causes of Colony Collapse Disorder?

Countless theories have been made about the possible causes of CCD, but researchers and analysts have narrowed it down to a few likely possible causes. First, pesticides - while they do play a role in protecting crops from harmful insects and disease, some scientists fear they're working a little too well. Pesticide exposure can be deadly, not just for honey bees, but for the majority of animals. When a honey bee pollinates a plant sprayed with pesticides, it can easily be contaminated and poison other bees at the hive.

According to the EPA, there have been many theories about the cause of CCD, but the researchers who are leading the effort to find out why are now focused on these factors:

Increased losses due to the invasive varroa mite (a pest of honey bees).

New or emerging diseases such as Israeli Acute Paralysis virus and the gut parasite Nosema.

Pesticide poisoning through exposure to pesticides applied to crops or for in-hive insect or mite control.

Stress bees experience due to management practices such as transportation to multiple locations across the country for providing pollination services.

Changes to the habitat where bees forage.

Inadequate forage/poor nutrition.

Potential immune-suppressing stress on bees caused by one or a combination of factors identified above.

Good News/Bad News

The EPA reports "Once thought to pose a major long term threat to bees, reported cases of CCD have declined substantially over the last five years." But, the 2014-2015 annual survey conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership found that "summer losses exceeded winter numbers for the first time, making annual losses for the year 42.1%"

"The winter loss numbers are more hopeful especially combined with the fact that we have not seen much sign of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) for several years, but such high colony losses in the summer and year-round remain very troubling," said Jeff Pettis, a highly respected entomologist and lead scientist at the USDA's bee research lab from 2005-2014. "If beekeepers are going to meet the growing demand for pollination services, researchers need to find better answers to the host of stresses that lead to both winter and summer colony losses," he said.

What Can We All Do To Save The Bees?

Some of the brightest minds on the planet are currently working hard to save the bees. But what if you aren't a world-renowned beekeeper or a Melittologist (an entomologist specializing in the study of bees)?

There are some small actions you can take to help Save the Bees:

Planting flowers wherever you can is always a positive step toward repopulation. Choose plants that are native to your area.

Avoid treating your yard with pesticides, especially when flowers are in full bloom. This is because pollen can easily be contaminated with poison and taken back to the hive where it could seriously harm other bees and the queen. There are plenty of alternative and more natural ways to protect your yard from pests.

Buy local, raw honey whenever you can. Raw honey is the purest form of honey you can buy, and it puts the money into the pockets of hard-working local beekeepers as opposed to Big Honey, which may source honey from producers who do not treat their bees as well.

Let dandelions, clover, and wildflowers grow in your yard and garden. Some people consider them to be weeds, but you don't have to! They make great food sources for honey bees.

Finally, it's important to stay informed of global bee health and do your part to protect the population. After all, bees have helped to provide for the human population, and they deserve to live happy and healthy lives in return. If honey bees die out, all the money in the world can't bring them back.

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Colony Collapse Disorder: What Is It, And Why Does It Matter?

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We are happy to have on board guest blogger Greg Long. Greg is a beekeeper and Communications Coordinator at GloryBee, and has nearly completed his journey to becoming a Master Beekeeper. He's currently enrolled in Master Beekeeping apprentice classes through the Oregon State Master Beekeepers' Program.

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Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is defined by sudden colony death and a lack of healthy adult bees within the hive. The disorder appears to impair adult bees' ability to navigate, causing them to leave the hive in search of pollen and never return. CCD is also distinguished by the delayed robbing of honey in the dead colonies by other, healthy bee colonies in the surrounding area. Beekeepers in the United States provide pollination services for more than 90 commercially grown crops. The annual economic value of crops in the United States that benefit from honeybee pollination is estimated to be $15 billion.

The California almond export crop alone was worth $1.9 billion in 2006, and pollination required over one million bee colonies. A number of potential causes of CCD were identified.

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colony collapse disorder (CCD), disorder affecting honeybee colonies that is characterized by sudden colony death, with a lack of healthy adult bees inside the hive. Although the cause is not known, researchers suspect that multiple factors may be involved. The disorder appears to affect the adult bees' ability to navigate. They leave the hive to find pollen and never return. Honey and pollen are usually present in the hive, and there is often evidence of recent brood rearing. In some cases the queen and a small number of survivor bees may remain in the brood nest. CCD is also characterized by delayed robbing of the honey in the dead colonies by other, healthy bee colonies in the immediate area, as well as slower than normal invasion by common pests, such as wax moths and small hive beetles. The disorder appears to affect only the European honeybee (Apis mellifera).

Colony loss and economic impact

The unexplained loss of honeybee colonies that came to be known as CCD was first reported in the fall of 2006 by a commercial beekeeper from Pennsylvania, U.S., who was overwintering his colonies in Florida. (Subsequent investigations suggested that beekeepers had experienced unexplained colony losses for at least the previous three years; similar losses had been reported previously as well, including in the late 19th century and in various decades of the 20th century.) By February 2007 several large commercial migratory beekeeping operations in the United States had reported cases of CCD, with some operators suffering the loss of 50-90 percent of their colonies. Many of these larger operations were overwintering their colonies in California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas. By late February 2007 some nonmigratory operations located in the mid-Atlantic region and the Pacific Northwest of the United States also had reported the loss of more than 50 percent of their colonies. The absence of dead bees in the affected hives made initial investigations difficult and inconclusive. That same year, other countries, including Canada, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany, Poland, France, and Switzerland, also reported substantial losses of honeybees. From 2006 to 2011 total annual colony losses in the United States averaged around 33 percent; beekeepers cited CCD as the cause of roughly one-third of those losses.

Beekeeping is a critical component of modern agriculture. CCD not only threatens the beekeeping operations that provide pollination service and honey production but also has the potential for crippling the production of the many crops that are dependent on honeybees for pollination. In the United States, beekeepers provide pollination service for more than 90 commercially grown crops, including many fruits and vegetables. The economic value of U.S. crops that benefit from honeybee pollination has been estimated at $15 billion annually. In 2006 the California almond export crop alone was valued at $1.9 billion and required more than one million bee colonies for pollination (out of a total of about 2.6 million colonies in the United States). With the number of available colonies for crop pollination in the country in decline, the beekeeping industry faced a tremendous challenge in meeting the demand for pollination services.

Suspected causes

The Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture organized efforts to address the CCD crisis through surveys and data collection, samples analysis, and mitigation and preventive measures. A variety of possible causes of CCD were suggested. They included chemical contamination of colony food stores or beeswax; poisoning from pesticides, including nicotine-based insecticides known as neonicotinoids (the use of which has been restricted in some countries); possible lack of genetic diversity in colonies; and infection of colonies by pathogens or parasites, including known honeybee parasites such as the single-celled microsporidians (parasitic fungus) Nosema ceranae and N. apis and the invasive varroa mite ( Varroa destructor).

Multiple studies have suggested that CCD might be the result of simultaneous exposure to a combination of two or more pathogens or stressors, in which the combination of stressors has a synergistic effect. Bee colonies are commonly found to be infested with pathogens and parasites, and the investigation of the interactions of all the possible causative agents has proved to be a challenge for bee researchers. Pathogens that have been implicated in CCD include acute bee paralysis virus, Ascosphaera apis (chalkbrood disease), black queen cell virus, chronic bee paralysis virus, deformed wing virus, invertebrate iridescent virus, Israeli acute paralysis virus, Kashmir bee virus, Nosema species, Paenibacillus larvae (American foulbrood), and sacbrood virus. Many of those pathogens are present in increased abundance in hives affected by CCD, and varroa mites are capable of transmitting deadly honeybee viruses, including black queen cell virus and deformed wing virus. However, no pathogens have been found definitively to cause the disorder. Another parasite that may play a role in CCD is the phorid fly Apocephalus borealis. A known parasite of bumblebees, A. borealis has been identified as an emerging threat to honeybees. It was first reported to infect honeybees in 2012, when it was found to be associated with hive abandonment. Honeybees from parasitized hives often are infected with Nosema species and deformed wing virus. Many phorid larvae that emerge from dead bees also are infected with those pathogens, suggesting that phorid flies may serve as a reservoir for the agents, transmitting them to bees upon parasitization.

Pesticides implicated in CCD include the neonicotinoids imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam. Although no causal link has been established, the agents have been associated with atypical honeybee behaviour and weakened immune function, which may worsen preexisting pathogen infection. For example, sublethal exposure to thiamethoxam appears to impair bees' homing ability, with consequences for colony survival, and exposure to imidacloprid and clothianidin may suppress immune function and promote the proliferation of deformed wing virus in infected honeybees. In addition, an antimicrobial agent known as fumagillin that is commonly used to control Nosema species has been shown to affect the physiology of European honeybees at concentrations that are ineffective against N. ceranae, the most invasive of the microsporidian pathogens. Because honeybees raised in brood combs with high levels of pesticide residue show increased susceptibility to N. ceranae, there is concern that pesticides and other agents, including fumagillin, could be contributing to an increase in the occurrence of N. ceranae infection.

The full sequence of the honeybee genome, which was published in late 2006, was a technological advance that could conceivably help in discovering the underlying cause of CCD in honeybees. Knowledge of the sequence made available new molecular approaches and introduced honeybee genomics to the investigation of CCD. It also enabled scientists to study the impact of the possible causal agents on specific genes and honeybee colony health. Likewise, the advance might help identify new pathogens in honeybees and unravel the complex effects of multiple combinations of pathogens and environmental toxins.

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Colony collapse disorder (CCD) | Definition, Causes, Effects, & Facts

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Colony collapse disorder (CCD), disorder affecting honeybee colonies that is characterized by sudden colony death, with a lack of healthy adult bees inside the hive. Although the cause is not known, researchers suspect that multiple factors may be involved. The disorder appears to affect the adult

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CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) was first identified in 2006. CCD is thought to be a complex condition caused by a number of factors. There was no single stressor that stood out as the primary cause of CCD. Since 2008, the number of colonies lost to CCD has been decreasing. The overall colony loss rate, however, remains a major concern.

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What does it look like?

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) was first reported in 2006. Beekeepers began reporting high colony losses where the adult honeybees simply disappeared from the hives, almost all at the same time. There were few, if any, dead bees found in or around the hives. The queen and immature bees (brood) were often found in the hives with plenty of food stores, inadequately attended by a few adult bees.

What causes it?

CCD is believed to be complex and a result of multiple factors. One study evaluated 61 factors, and found that no single stressor stood out as the primary cause of CCD. However, colonies affected by CCD had more pathogens and more types of pathogens than colonies without CCD. Pathogens are disease-causing organisms. A group of stakeholders that gathered in 2012 found a similar consensus, that a complex group of stressors and pathogens are associated with CCD.

How is the problem changing?

The study of CCD has improved scientists' understanding that one or multiple stressors can lead to colony loss. In addition to CCD, parasites and pathogens, poor nutrition, pesticide exposure, lack of genetic diversity, and habitat loss can weaken or kill honeybee colonies. The number of colonies reported to be lost to CCD has been declining since 2008, but overall colony loss rate is still a major concern. For the past eight years, about 30% of colonies have been lost each winter, but that number dropped to 23% in 2013-14. In 2013, surveyors attributed about 30% of colony losses to CCD, compared to 60% of colony losses in 2008.

If you have questions about colony collapse disorder, or any pesticide-related topic, please call NPIC at 800-858-7378 (8:00am - 12:00pm PST), or email at npic@ace.orst.edu.

Additional Resources:

This information was reviewed by Dr. Ramesh Sagili and Dr. Louisa Hooven on June 5, 2015.

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Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) was first reported in 2006. Beekeepers began reporting high colony losses where the adult honeybees simply disappeared from the hives, almost all at the same time. There were few, if any, dead bees found in or around the hives.

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5. Colony Collapse Disorder: Why Are Bees Dying?

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5. Colony Collapse Disorder: Why Are Bees Dying?

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Honeybee pollination is responsible for one out of every three mouthfuls of food consumed in the United States. In the United States alone, 42 percent of bee colonies died in 2015. Pesticides and climate change are two of the many factors at work. Pesticides can deplete bee populations, making them more vulnerable to mites and other diseases.

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The average person sitting down to dinner probably doesn't realize the important role bees played in preparing that meal. Here's something that might surprise you: One out of every three mouthfuls of food in the American diet is, in some way, a product of honeybee pollination-from fruit to nuts to coffee beans. And because bees are dying at a rapid rate (42 percent of bee colonies collapsed in the United States alone in 2015), our food supply is at serious risk.

The bee's plight is widespread: Serious declines have been reported in both managed honeybee colonies and wild populations. Jennifer Sass, an NRDC senior scientist, says there are multiple factors at play. Each on its own is bad enough, but combined they are quickly proving too much to handle.

Pesticides: These chemicals are designed, of course, to kill insects. But some systemic varieties-specifically neonicotinoids -are worse for bees than others.

Loss of habitat: As rural areas become urban, the patches of green space that remain are often stripped of all weeds and their flowers, which bees rely on for food.

Climate change: Unusually warm winters have caused plants to shift their schedules. When bees come out of hibernation, the flowers they need to feed on have already bloomed and died.

Disease: Pathogens carried by mites weaken bees, which makes them more susceptible to pesticide poisoning. On the flip side, if bees are already weakened by pesticides, they're more vulnerable to disease.

It's hard to imagine a world without bees, but we know the impacts on our food supply would be significant. (Think way less varied and much more expensive.) Industry is scrambling to manage the crisis, with Big Agriculture securing healthy honeybee hives from wherever it can find them and transporting them around the country to pollinate crops. Some regions in China are even hand-pollinating.

The rest of us can help, too. "The thing we can most control is pesticides," says Sass. Anyone with outdoor space-from a container garden to a large lawn-can create a pesticide-free, safe space for pollinators that will encourage native bees and other beneficial insects.

We can also make sure to purchase plants that aren't pretreated with pesticides by asking questions when we shop for seeds and flowers. We can let our lawns grow a bit longer and leave the blooming clover for bees to enjoy. We can ask our elected officials to pass county and town ordinances to reduce pesticide spraying, and we can urge corporations to stop making and selling neonicotinoids.

It's time to pay back the tiny, struggling pollinators that do so much for us, especially at mealtime.
This NRDC.org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as time and place elements, style, and grammar); you can't resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you can't republish our material wholesale or automatically-you need to select stories individually; you can't republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when you've used one of our stories.

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Colony Collapse Disorder: Why Are Bees Dying?

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The average person sitting down to dinner probably doesn't realize the important role bees played in preparing that meal. Here's something that might surprise you: One out of every three mouthfuls of food in the American diet is, in some way, a product of honeybee pollination-from fruit to nuts to coffee beans.