...Life without Bees By: Aisha Walker The Current situation: Life without Bees Colony collapse disorder, as situation in which adult bees become crucial to the colony’s survival by abandonment of the hive by either dying or flying off. The disorder was uncannily reminiscent of the mysterious disappearance of the Mayans centuries ago, and as the crisis continued, researches scrambled to learn why our bees were declining and determine what to do. Colony collapse disorders has wiped out over 10 million bee hives percent annually in recent years and there are now about $2 billion over the past six years. The death rate for colonies has hit 30 the U.S; down from 6 million in 1947 and 3 million in 1990. That downward spiral leaves”virtually no cushion of bees for pollination’” the report authors write. In recent years, agricultural pesticides have become a leading suspect in bee deaths. Attention has focused on a class of chemicals called neonicotinoids as global concern grows over the bee population crash, which has affected several European countries too.But scientist increasingly believe several interacting factors from diseases carrying parasites to poor nutrition to pesticides and is responsible for the mass die off. For instance, the report says studies have shown that exposure to even non-fatal levels of neonicotinoids may make bees more susceptible to disease; and as agriculture becomes more industrial and natural habitats that formerly bordered farmland are destroyed...
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...Colony Collapse Disorder LaTisha R. Caldwell-Bullis Columbia Southern University Abstract The mysterious, yet abrupt disappearance of honey bees from the beehive is known as colony collapse disorder or CCD. The disorder used to be known as disappearing disease, May disease, and even fall dwindle disease yet was given its current name, Colony Collapse Disorder, late in 2006. It was renamed after the abrupt and disturbing vanishing of Western honeybee colonies here in North America, yet the same occurrence was noticed in Europe in areas such as France and the Netherlands (Wikipedia, 2014). The shortage in honeybees and their natural pollination services has led to an increase in farmers having to rent pollination services to service their crops. There are many factors to blame for the shortage of honey bees, for example, pesticides and insecticides such as neonicotinoids, malnutrition, pathogens, genetic factors, immunodeficiencies, loss of habitats, and declining beekeeping practices, antibiotics, and miticides. Some other causes of CCD are contamination, parasite loads in bees and brood, nutritional fitness of adult bees, stress levels, and a total lack of genetic diversity (Sutphin, 2014). The focus for this particular case study will be on neonicotinoids, antibiotics, and they were developed because at the time, they showed less of a toxic effect on humans and crops, as compared to organophosphate and carbonate insecticides. The mysterious, yet abrupt disappearance of honey...
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...Using Instrumental Insemination to Fight Colony Collapse of Honey Bees What Is Colony Collapse • Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. • While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, and were known by various names o Disappearing disease o Spring dwindle o May disease o Autumn collapse o and fall dwindle disease), • The syndrome was renamed colony collapse disorder in late 2006 in conjunction with a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of western honey bee colonies in North America. • Colony collapse disorder is significant economically because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by European honey bees. • According to the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the worth of global crops with honeybee’s pollination was estimated to be close to $200 billion in 2005. Honey Bee and Colony Design • In each colony the three different types of bees each have the same basic structure. • Worker Bees are sterile females responsible for maintaining the health and sanitation of the hive. • Clean and maintain cells and hive – Remove dead – Dispatch and/or expel excess drones after breeding – Fan the beehive to regulate temperature ...
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...The Colony Collapse Disorder is a mystery that involves bees abandoning their hives which causes hives to fail and therefore bees are dying at alarming rates. About one third of the population of bees gets affected by these diseases that occur. (Walsh) The bees that get infected are the reasons why the hives collapse and lower the population of honey bees. Once the bees are infected they die off and cannot maintain the colony. In some cases bees are experiencing memory loss from contaminates and therefore they can not return to their hives. (Morris)The memory loss is a neurological phenomenon and happens quickly so that the bees can not carry out basic functions. In other cases the bees have deformed wings for no apparent reason and therefore...
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...We all know the feeling of being stung by a bee, it feels like an annoying pinch your sibling would give to you when you were younger, then right after you wonder, why do these things even exist? Fifty to eighty percent of food supply in the world is affected directly by the honey bee pollination (National Honey Bee). The honey bee pollination is extremely undervalued in our society because most of us are not aware how important it is to our everyday lives. The honey bee population is drastically dropping with twenty-five percent of the bee population disappearing since 1990, and a condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder is the main cause for the major decrease in the last fifteen years (Natural Resources Defense Council). While bees have become known as the summertime nuisance, they could easily be viewed as one of the most important species on earth to humans. We need to be more aware of how these creatures can help us and research may change a person’s perspective on honey bees....
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...Questions: 1. What kinds of plants are pollinated by honeybees? Typical plants pollinated by honeybees are flowers as well as a large variety of other plants, however, not all. 2. What are some short and long term economic, social, and environmental repercussions of a widespread disappearance of honeybees? An economic effect of a widespread disappearance of honeybees is the loss of profit. If honeybees disappear, crops that depend heavily on pollination like blueberries and apples will suffer as well as the profit made (worth fourteen billion dollars). 3. Are larger or smaller honeybee operations more likely to experience Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)? Larger honeybee operations are more likely to experience Colony Collapse Disorder. 4. Hypothesize possible reasons for Colony Collapse Disorder. Potential causes of Colony Collapse Disorder could be a rapidly changing environment (which the honeybees could not adapt to), not enough plants for pollination (a lack of food), or dangerous pesticides and chemicals used on plants (that could harm bees). Part #2 Questions 1. As a class, list possible causes of CCD that Mark, Dave, and Tanya read about. Possible causes of CCD are newly discovered viruses from pathogens and parasitic infections. In addition, the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), causes honeybees to have a higher susceptibility to parasites. 2. How do Varroa mites and Nosema spores damage honeybee health? What are the disadvantages of using pesticides...
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...To: Mr. Smith From: Zarife Mati Subject: Public Stand on Pesticides Date: December 2, 2014 _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Mr. Smith The colony collapse disorder of bees has become a very problematic issue. Similar cases of large bee die-offs also began to be reported around the world. CCD is still a continuing problem, most notably in the United States, that could have huge impacts in biodiversity and our food stability. Colony collapse disorder is a growing issue in the United States that presents frightening agricultural problems, which may be hard to cure, based off of several possible causes acting together. The cause of CCD is currently unknown, so the name will likely change when new evidence is found. As of now there is no single cause can be attributed to CCD, but instead it is believed that many factors play a role in the collapse, which ranges from natural diseases to the way bees are managed. Pesticides work in ways that most people don’t notice or even think about on a daily basis. They provide immeasurable benefits to almost every walk of life. The contributions to society include protecting property, preventing disease, improving quality of life, and public health. Invasive pests transmitted some of the most dangerous and deadly diseases in the history of mankind. Pesticides keep poisonous and allergen-producing weeds at bay around homes and businesses. Both grocery stores and farming processes...
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...The honey bee is a cornerstone of everyday life. The honey bee has pollination impacts quantified in billions of dollars. Hundreds of plants are pollinated by bees, including potatoes, onions, celery, peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, watermelon, coconut, tangerine, cucumber, lemons, limes, carrots, cotton, strawberries, zuchinni, mangoes, beans, cherries, and tomatoes. These fruits and vegetables are all vital to our nutrition and diet. Would you really want to say goodbye to potato chips? Almond joys, spaghetti and meatballs, the shirt you’re wearing? Bee-pollinated products span from the fashion to packaging industries, and are imperative to diets that help obese and diabetic patients get back on track with their health. Once you connect all...
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...to become extinct, mankind would be soon to follow. Bees are facing colony collapse disorder, a situation where they leave their hives by either flying off or dying. This disorder resembles the mysterious disappearance of the Mayans centuries ago; do we want to follow in their footsteps? What Einstein was referring to in his famous quote is the symbiotic relationship of life on the planet. Since we all are part off an interconnected ecosystem where each element of our world plays an important role we should take care of each element. The percentage of bees disappearing is surprisingly high, for example in the U.S. 90% of the wild bees population has died out (Gerber, 2007). The U.S. is just one example - there are many bees dying out in Europe, such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom where 80 percent of the bee population has gone missing (Gerber, 2007). According to Keith Tignor, the state apiarist for Virginia, beekeepers today are losing 25 percent of the beehive compared to 30 years ago when the rate was between 5 and 10 percent. The phenomenon of colony collapse disorder has now become a global issue; all over the world the instances of bees dying out is increasing. Basic Information about honey bees: Each colony of honeybees is divided into three castes: the first consisting of the queen, the second of workers, and last (but not least) of drones. The queen is the mother of the colony and lays eggs where other queens, workers, and...
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...Running head: SAVE THE HONEY BEES! 1 Save the Honey Bees Ryan Lovett Northern Illinois University SAVE THE HONEY BEES! 2 Save the Honey Bees! Breaking news! Honey bees turn into zombies! Honey bees are disappearing because of colony collapse disorder. Honey bees are the most important insect to the survival of the human race because honey bees pollinate about one third of the fruits and vegetables used as food (Genersch, 2010, p. 87). In order to save the honey bees from extinction, it is important to first understand what honey bees do. It is also important to know how beekeepers take care of bees so that more beekeepers may be trained for future bees to thrive and for others to be knowledgeable of the bees. Commercial beekeepers transport their bees all around the United States to pollinate the US food supply. Research of colony collapse disorder or CCD, which is the reason for the bees disappearing, is important so bee keepers and scientists can prevent further cases of CCD. Understanding What Honey Bees Do. Honey bees are an important creature that balances the ecosystem. Understanding what bees do is important to maintaining their survival, as well as ours. The major objective of any bee is to form a nest; in the case of honey bees their nest is a hive. In order to build their house, a queen bee and some workers begin making the foundation. Once the house is completed, the workers get the queen settled in and she begins laying eggs. In captivity, the queen...
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...become a great deal of worry not just in the US, but around the world. They have begun to disappear without leaving any trace behind, denominated, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This phenomenon that has been hunting many for a few years has not yet been understood. Honey Bees are an essential part of human survival. Thanks to them we are able to eat every day. Many of the plant’s survival depend on the honey bees since “one third of the world's agricultural production depends on the European honeybee”(Cox-Foster ). They are the ones that can pollinate a certain amount of plants much quicker and easily compared to other insects. There have been many hypotheses concerning the loss of bees in the past years. One suspect that caused the disappearance of honey bees was the vorroa mites. These are parasites greatly responsible for the loss of a large number of bee colonies between 1987 and 2006. However, as the bees were studied there was found many unknown symptoms. This is how a hypothesis was developed stating that something was making bees more fragile. Its immune system was becoming weaker making them suffer different types of infections. However, the numbers of the vorroa mites were not extremely significant as to be the ones killing the bees. Another suspect mentioned was parasites. Some of the bees that were found in the colonies were discovered infected by a specific fungi, such as Nosema apis. What this fungus does is attack the intestinal track, later causing dysentery...
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...the primary pollinator for most of these crops and the bees are negatively impacted by these pesticides. Most of the pesticides used are toxic to the honey and when bees pollinate the plants the buildup of toxins that the pesticides contain will lead to the bees death. With the use of pesticides and insecticides primary the class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids the honeybee population has dramatically decreasing due to the toxic chemicals used. According to Grossman, “Neonicotinoids are one of the world’s most widely used insecticide. Using these pesticide is one of the major culprit to why the honey bee population is dying”(1). Elizabeth Grossman also shares, “Neonicotinoids are one of the leading suspected colony collapse disorder”(1). Colony collapse disorder is “a syndrome characterized by worker bees abandoning their hives […] and eventually kill honeybees it may pose an emerging threat to North American apiculture” (core et al. 1). With the pesticides possibly being one of the many reasons why the bee population is suffering the usage of pesticides that are toxic to bees should not be allowed to be used on seeds and plants that are attractive to honey bees as advised by Elizabeth...
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...third of the food that humans consume (Silence of the Bees, 2007). Without the bees humans would only be able to produce and consume wheat, corn, and rice (Silence of the Bees, 2007). Leaving humans without fruit and vegetables. Unfortunately, something has gone wrong and the bees have started to disappear without explanation and without a trace. For example in some regions of China the honeybees were completely killed because of pesticides. Owners of the pear trees were forced to pollinate by hand (Silence of the Bees, 2007). Researchers have tried to figure out what is the cause of their disappearance, but only have gained limited information. So far, they have named this phenomenon Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) (Cox-Foster & vanEngelsdorp, 2009). One of the symptoms of Colony Collapse Disorder are that the bees become disoriented and are not capable of returning to their hive once they go out to gather pollen (Silence of the Bees, 2007). Another symptom was that the bees started to act abnormal because their technique of communication changed. They did not do their waggle dance anymore to notify the other bees that there was an abundant source of pollen (Silence of the Bees, 2007). Those that were infected with a disease would leave the hive in order to not infect the others (Silence of the Bees, 2007). Researchers were getting tired of this big mystery and they had to come up with other possibilities that might be causing the bees to act a certain way and disappear from...
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...Bees are the most important pollinators as far as it comes to human interests. Their loss will adversely affect millions of people across the globe, especially the consumer, who regularly enjoys foods pollinated by bees. Furthermore, bees hold an important part in the ecosystem, and their loss will lead to the disappearance of many species that rely on them for pollination as well as all the other species that depend upon the pollinated plants. If people do not make actual progress towards protecting bees, entire ecosystems will collapse, with the consequences being unpredictable. Harmful practices and chemicals must be regulated and banned more so as to alleviate their impact on bees and other pollinators. Homeowners need to minimize the use of pesticides while maximizing the available space and habitat for bees. If wildflowers are rehabilitated into the areas that they once occupied, the bee population will recover in tandem. Climate change must also be dealt with, if not for its overall damage to the planet for the fact that it is also adversely affecting bees. To save the organisms that support countless other species and pollinate much of humanity's food supply, a multifaceted approach must be taken. No single solution will help completely save the bees, yet a combination...
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...It is toxic to bees and causes colony collapse disorder among them. Colony collapse disorder is when workers bees suddenly disappear from their bee colony. It causes adult bees to be absent with dead little bees. This is caused by honeybee enterprises feeding their bees high fructose corn syrup. For instance, a research project was conducted where there are five hives and four of them would be fed high fructose corn syrup with pesticides in them and the fifth would be fed just high fructose corn syrup (Helman 3). At first, nothing seemed to happen but as the experiment continued and a large mass of bees were seen fleeing from their hives. After several weeks, 15 of the 16 hives the researchers had fed the pesticide had colony collapse disorder showing that high fructose corn syrup, although not a direct cause of it, still causes the bees to become weaker and more vulnerable to pesticides (Helman...
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