Summary: Hives Of Controversy

This paper reviews the phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), or the disappearance of large swathes of the bee population in the US and elsewhere. It reviews the potential causes of CCD, including pathogens, pesticides, and other environmental factors that could contribute to bee deaths. Although many have linked the widespread use of pesticides to the phenomenon, there is no 'smoking gun' that is clearly implicated in causing CCD. The phenomenon can likely be attributed to a wide variety of factors, rather than a singular cause.

The bees never seem to catch a break which is putting the bees under “stress” which is a factor. Furthermore, when they are pollinating all these different plants some are not nutritious as others, for example cucumbers aren’t as healthy as some of the other plants but there is still a demand for them, so the bees still have to work and eventually become unhealthy if they aren’t getting the right nutrients. Another factor is pesticides, which has many different points of view but overall it has come to decided it is not the pesticides themselves that are killing masses of bees but it is lowering their immune system and making it easier for them to get sick, for example with the common parasite Nosema. Nosema is a parasite in the digestive track of the honey bee that attacks the entire hive and can eventually wipe out the whole hive. The effects of the pesticides are ultimately never letting the hives reach their maximum potential, which in the end could render the hives weak and lethargic. There are so many pesticides out there it is hard to tell exactly what component in the pesticide is hurting the bees. It is recently found that the inert ingredients used often to boost the effectiveness of the pesticide are actually more harmful than the actual toxic ingredients

The article “Hivey Leaguers” discusses problems affecting the bee population in the United States ranging from chemicals and insecticides to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Colony Collapse Disorder occurs when the worker bees disappear from the hives, leaving behind the queen and the nurses to take care of the immature bees. This newly discovered threat to bee populations caused widespread panic in the entomologist community and lead to a race to find the cause, and the relative cure. Though this new disorder was a danger, the real bane of the bees was a much more sinister, and domestic, threat.

According to the article, Honey Bee Heath and Colony Collapse Disorder, honey bees around the U.S are slowly and puzzlingly disappearing. This slow disappearance of the honey bee population is caused by a disorder known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD.) Colony Collapse Disorder causes adult honey bees to completely “vanish” leaving behind only the queen bee along with immature bees. Although this disease is receiving a lot of attention and research on CCD is taking place, the causes and treatments for Colony Collapse Disorder are still undefinable as well. Some may ask, “Who cares? Why is it important that bees are disappearing?” It is important because bees are the foundation to U.S agriculture and they are vital to worldwide economic stability which is why finding the cause and treatment for CCD is a top priority for scientists and researchers around the world.

Some causes of bee loss is pesticides, determining a specific role of pesticides in pollinators health is complicated. Pesticides play a small role in bee deaths. Pesticides weaken insects’ immune systems making the insect extremely weak. Most to all pesticides causes stress in bees. When bees are stressed the ability to sterilise

Neonicotinoid pesticides are a group of chemicals widely used on farm crops, plants, and trees (1). The concern behind these pesticides is the harmful impact on pollinating insects such as honey bees and bumble bees (1). Neonicotinoids are sprayed onto the plant where they are absorbed by the plant and are transported to all parts of the plant including the pollen (see figure 1) (1). Bees then ingest the pesticide via the pollen; specifically, this is the point where the central nervous system of the bees becomes compromised. A large number of deaths in bees is being used as an argument against the use of neonicotinoids (1).

The effects of these pesticides are not killing the bees instantaneously but impairing their behavior and development. However, some pesticides are very lethal since the honey bees do not even go back to their hives and most of them die after ingesting small amounts of these chemicals from plants that have been sprayed with them. These pesticides clearly have a huge role to play in CCD, given that bee farmers in organic gardens have not reported this phenomenon. According to Timbrell (2002), the pesticides reduce the immunity of bees and are therefore susceptible to literally all kinds of pathogens. A dissection of the dead

The article "Disappearing Bees and Reluctant Regulators.", deals with the current struggle of the beekeepers against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pesticide regulation. The authors believe that the extremely dangerous phenomenon Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a result of the current EPA regulations. Colony collapse disorder is a recent phenomenon that is for an unknown reason, many the worker bees in a colony disappear from the hive. Therefore, leaving the queen, food supplies, larva, and the hives nurse bees behind to fend for themselves. In the end the bee hives that suffer from colony collapse disorder tend to expire shortly afterwards. This problem of colony collapse disorder has cause problems with the production of many agricultural products however, no staple food source like grain or rice has been effective. It is the agricultural foods that require pollination between flowers, cherries are a perfect example of this. In the end the authors assert that scientists blame the current EPA-approved agricultural insecticides as the major cause of colony collapse disorder. However, cases

These pesticides are dangerous to them as they lead to death, disorientation, and diminished immune systems. Obviously death for this underrated Meta species is a natural occurrence just like it is to many others, but too much of it can lead to unbalanced populations and colony declines as they will become less and less self-sustainable. This not only harms the bees themselves but cripples industries and other species that depend on bees in some way which is a lot. Disorientation leads to the bees getting lost and never returning to the colonies so they wander around mindlessly lost. This makes colonies decline. Diminished immune systems are also a problem as not only do they have to worry about what our “safe” chemicals do to them but they also have to face the microscopic threat of bacteria, viruses, amoebas, fungi, and parasites. This leads to even greater declines for colonies as the chemicals and lack of self-sustainability makes them incredibly prone to get these illnesses. With all these things working in conjunction against the bees the can very easily go extinct this century if nothing is

The bee extinction issue is known as one of the most bizarre and sudden occurrences in nature. This phenomena began in the United States and later spread to continental Europe—along with the United Kingdom. In this scenario, the main culprit is an issue with radioactivity produced by cell phones and modern-day electronics. However this conjecture was a drawn out fad in the early 2000s and is now not paid much attention to. Scientists have actually moved on to a new, and more likely assumption of Colony Collapse Disorder more commonly known as CCD. Colony Collapse Disorder have destroyed 10 million beehives, worth $2 billion. CCD comes from pesticides, parasites bearing diseases, and poor nutrition of the bees. The University of Maryland and the US Department of Agriculture identify a certain brew of pesticide as dangerous and are pushing to have it removed from production. Other insects also carry and transmit disease to hives. Bees are also killed eating pollen that is contaminated with fungicides (basically pesticide for fungi). But here’s whom the biggest decider is when it comes to bees and their lives” us—the people. That’s right! Social trends are huge, and what’s big right now? Being green and healthy, especially when it comes to cleaning and management of our lives. We buy things that are ranked with green standards, our pesticides, cars, homes,

One of the pesticides that has caught much attention is neonicotinoids, or neonics. This is an insecticide chemically related to nicotine. This chemical attacks the honey bees nervous system making it difficult for the bee to remember or learn certain essential skills. It can kill the bee instantly or even worse, the bee can make it back to the hive covered in the insecticide and infect the hive. There are seven types of neonics, and many of these are made by the German company, Bayer. Since 2013, neonics have been banned in the use of all bee-attractive crops in both Germany and the rest of the European Union. This took place after they found conclusive evidence that linked the decrease of the species to neonicotinoids. This is a good start, but why isn’t the United States doing the same? It comes down to the principles of each country. The European Union tends to be precautionary, while America on the other hand goes by the motto “innocent until proven guilty.” We are using a product that is even banned from where it was created. Yet, there has not been enough conclusive proof to convince American Legislatures to change their pesticide use. Penn State University actually conducted a study on this subject, finding that every batch of pollen bees collected and brought back to the hive contained at least six detected pesticides. Neonicotinoids are affecting the honey bees severely and they are not being able to provide enough

Seeking Answers Amid a Toxic Debate is an article written by Michael Eisenstein, a writer, editor, and photographer. In the article, Eisenstein writes of Colony Collapse Disorder also known as CCD. Colony Collapse Disorder happens when most of the worker or adult bees in a colony die and leave behind a queen, lots of food and few bees to care for the hive. While this doesn't seem entirely awful, there is lots of food and baby bees, it has the potential to be disastrous. The loss of these adult bees causes numerous issues, the hive will eventually run out of food, the few “nurse” bees can not show the young bees how to gather food, and not to mention the surrounding agricultural crops will suffer.

Professor Dave Goulson holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Oxford and a PhD in butterfly ecology from Oxford Brookes University. He has written over 200 scientific articles on the ecology and conservative of bumblebees and other insects. In this lecture Dr. Goulson focus mostly on how various pesticides – mostly neonicotinoids – contribute to the disappearance of both wild and honey bees and other insects. He supports his conclusions with evidence obtained through varies experiments preformed both by him and other

development and foraging activities of honeybee would not be direct reflected by the LD50 of the

Honey bees, feared by the misinformed and admired by the intelligent, are dying. The interest in bees from many environmentalists is not for a sudden cause, as this issue is not new to the world. Honey bees as a population have been in decline for years but have yet to reach the endangered species list anywhere in the United States except for Hawaii. Many people kill bees that buzz around joyfully, simply because they are afraid of being stung by them; however, a vast majority of bees do not sting and the others do not care. This unfortunate commonality is not even one of the top causes of the worldwide epidemic of honey bees. Although bees are jokingly idolized on the internet in pictures and videos as a result of a popular children’s movie, their population decline is in fact quite serious. Honey bees and other pollinators like birds and insects ensure the pollination of flowering plants and crops all around the globe. Not only do honey bees pollinate plants that produce the foods that humans eat, but they also pollinate trees that produce clean oxygen for Earth. Without honey bees, the world as we know it could soon end, due to carbon dioxide pollution and lack of farmable foods. The population of honeybees and other important pollinator-bee species is dwindling due to a dilemma known to scientists as colony collapse disorder (CCD) because of the use of bee-killing pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, the decrease of flower meadows in the world, and the general increase