Colony Collapse Disorder and What We Can Do to “Save the Bees”

By now most people are aware that the bees are in trouble. If you haven’t heard it from the news, you may have seen messages like “Save the Bees” printed across shirts or maybe you’ve heard about putting a spoonful of sugar water out for tired bees. Yet, a lot of people are unaware of what exactly is causing the decline of bees around the world and what we can do to save them, and it isn’t as simple as setting out some sugar. While honeybees face many threats including habitat destruction and pesticide exposure, possibly the most frightening nemesis is colony collapse disorder or CCD.

A honey bee spreading pheromones  by Björn Appel. Edit by Waugsberg (cropped).

  Colony collapse disorder is a complicated and not fully understood condition that causes most worker bees to leave a hive with just a few nurse bees and a queen behind. This phenomenon began in the U.S. in 2006-2007 as beekeepers began reporting 30-90% of their hives being lost. What is causing such a decline in hive populations? As of now, there are no single determinant factor, yet a multitude of issues are either causing or worsening the issue by causing stress or weakness to bee populations. Some of these contributors include invasion of the varroa mite, new emerging diseases like the Israeli Acute Paralysis virus, pesticide poisoning and exposure, transportation of bees for agriculture, and poor nutrition often due to habitat loss (Colony Collapse Disorder). This has caused an extreme loss in bee colonies with bee populations being around five million in the 1940s to only 2.66 million today. While CCD is on the decline today, it has and still contributes to major losses in bee populations (ARS Honey Bee Health and Colony Collapse Disorder).

              While any loss of species is distressing, the loss of honeybees should be extremely disturbing to people for both economic and sustainability reasons. Bees pollinate 70 out of the 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world. This accounts to $30 billion a year in crop production. Further economic damages would likely unfold as well as the death of these plants and others would likely cause the extinction of other species that rely on them (Future- what would happen if bees went extinct). Furthermore, there would be a complete loss of bee-produced products like honey, bees wax, and royal jelly, all of which have a huge market and are in a variety of products from baked goods to lotions.  And while it is possible to survive without bees, it does mean that people would be taking over their jobs, requiring a lot more work for farmers. In the Southern Sichuan Province in China, bees have already become extinct and farmers are taking over as pollinators for their fruit crops. This requires workers to go out and hand pollinate hundreds and thousands of flowers in order to sustain their yields, a process that is not easy nor quick (The Animal Portal). Their importance in both their economic and intrinsic value has spurred many to ask: what can we do to help?

              While CCD may not be completely eradicated or solved, there are things that both beekeepers and the general public can do to slow the decline of bees. Beekeepers can work to protect colonies from CCD by not combining collapsing colonies with healthy ones, to not reuse hive equipment from collapsed hives, practice better hive management, and utilize an integrated pest management system, which helps to rid hives of varroa mites while keeping toxic chemical exposure to bees at a minimum (Infas). For the public, we need to be wary of advice given on the internet and do our research. While most have heard of the simple trick of putting out sugar-water for bees as food, this is not always the best idea as it adds a simple food source that really is not good for bees. Some better ways to help bees is to plant pollinator-friendly plants like red clover, fox glove, and bee balm and to restrict pesticide use during midday when bees are most active (ARS Honey Bee Health and Colony Collapse Disorder). People can also put small containers of water out for bees, not kill off weeds like dandelions and clover, and to speak out either to Congress about concerns or to neighbors and friends to educate them on how they can help protect bees (Ten things you can do to save the bees).

When it comes to ensuring the health of bees we need to be educated as to what is causing their decline and to educate others, and to remember that it takes more than just setting out some sugar or wearing a shirt with the words “Save the Bees” to truly save them from extinction.

References:

ARS Honey Bee Health and Colony Collapse Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ars.usda.gov/oc/br/ccd/index/#pub

Colony Collapse Disorder. (2018, April 26). Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder

Future - What would happen if bees went extinct? (2014, May 04). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140502-what-if-bees-went-extinct

Ifas. (n.d.). Colony Collapse Disorder. Retrieved from http://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/agriculture/colony-collapse-disorder/

Ten things you can do to help bees. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.queenofthesun.com/get-involved/10-things-you-can-do-to-help-bees/

TheAnimalPortal. (2016, September 17). Retrieved April 24, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcNMKERlIW8).