Hou'bee'ni by Logan VanderMaas

What can you do to help?

lvandermaas — 2023-11-20 03:06:39 UTC

By becoming a beekeeper, you can actually help the CCD phenomenon by diversifying the bee population in your area. With careful procedures and ethical methods, you can help the honeybees and yield your own honey. The addition of a honeybee friendly garden and avoiding the use of chemicals makes the perfect habitat for your own colony to thrive.

Varroa Destructor

lvandermaas — 2023-11-20 03:06:43 UTC

Varroa mite (Varroa Destructor) is a parasite that lives on the outside of the honeybee. The mite is responsible for inflicting more damage and higher economic costs than all other beekeeping diseases. The mite originated in Europe but has quickly spread worldwide, and chances of finding a varroa free colony anywhere but Australia are very low. Without continuous treatment, colonies would be decimated within a few short years. The periodic treatment adds costs to beekeepers and the risk of chemical exposure to the bees.

Habitat Manipulation

lvandermaas — 2023-11-20 03:06:50 UTC

Human activities affect the lives of bees and contribute to CCD because of our rapid urbanization and destruction of the habitats that bees need to forage. Rolling fields full of flowers and weeds are now cookie cutter neighborhoods. Stress on the bees is a huge part of the problem with CCD and when the bees cannot find the resources they need within a certain radius of their hive, they fail to thrive.

Pest Control

lvandermaas — 2023-11-20 03:06:52 UTC

Insecticides, fungicides and herbicides sprayed on crops in the area of a hive threaten the reproductive system of bees, can affect their navigation and memory and can be harmful enough to kill them. Exposure to pesticides can also extenuate stressors already present to the colony.

Pathways of exposure include direct contact with bees (getting chemicals sprayed directly on them), residue contact (bee lands on foliage previously sprayed) and using contaminated materials for nesting.

What is Colony Collapse Disorder?

lvandermaas — 2023-11-20 03:06:54 UTC

CCD is a phenomenon that occurs when worker bees abandon an otherwise healthy colony. There are various factors that are thought to contribute to this happening, such as

1.) Poisoning from pesticides applied to crops or directly to the hive for mite control.

2.) Destruction and change of the habitat that bees forage, leading to inadequate nutrition.

3.) Pests, specifically the invasive Varroa mite (Varroa Destructor).