Imagine a bee colony of 40,000 to 50,000 bees.
It has an abundance of honey and pollen, a healthy bee queen and lots of young bees but still the beehive is considered lost. The crucial worker bees to a bee colony are nowhere to be found, not even their bodies.
Thursday the European Commission (EC) published a paper putting forward a proposal to deal with this syndrome that has been haunting beekeepers, called “colony collapse disorder” (CCD) and declining bee health. In its communiqué, the EC puts forward actions to be taken, or are already in motion, to collect data on the extent and cause of the problem of disappearing bees and to protect bees into the future.
The EC is quite concerned since honeybees are important not only for producing honey, but also as pollinators. According to Plant Research International, 35 percent of all plants like fruit trees rely on the pollination by insects such as bees.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states on its website that in the U.S., bee pollination of crops is worth $15 billion per year. For example, the almond industry in California alone used about half of the 2.3 million colonies in the country in 2009 for pollination. In the European Union, about 700,000 beekeepers maintain almost 14 million colonies, according to the EC communiqué.
Although beekeepers have been reporting looses due CCD for years, not much is known about its cause. Suspected causes include side effects of pesticides, a new parasite or pathogen, and more stresses on the environment are stated.
Extension Apiculturist, Dr. Eric C. Mussen of University of California says it is a worldwide problem. In the U.S., 25 percent of the beekeepers across the country ranging in size from 1 to 15,000 colonies have recurring problems with CCD.
He believes that in the U.S., CCD is caused by an infectious disease, which they have not yet identified. His reasoning is based on the fact that when bees are introduced to replace the dead one, they die as well. But when the hive is cleaned properly the new bees can survive.
Mussen believes it might not be the same problem all over the world but says probably a combination of factors might be contributing to the problem. An increased level of stress in the environment makes the bees more receptive for fungi or other disturbances, for example.
Tjeerd Blacquiere, an entomologist at Plant Research International and a beekeeper explained to the Epoch Times in a previous article, some ways in which a changing environment leads to a bee colony collapse.
For example upscaling in agriculture with large fields of crops like corn and grain reduces the availability of highly nutritious food thus disrupting the dynamics of a hive. More bees need to take the role usually reserved for older bees of going out for nectar. The short lifespan of these workers bees leads to a quick collapse of the hive.
The EC announced a variety of measures to help collect data and address the problems of CCD in member countries. Included in these measures will be a special European bee lab to help train veterinarians about bee health. The EC also promised to improve relevant regulations, and earmarked 32 million euro ($42.6 million) to support national programs aimed at finding causes and cures for CCD. The EC will also look for ways to make new and old medications more easily available to counter bee-attacking parasites like Nosema and Varroa. At the same time, it will seek to cooperate with international organizations to prevent new pesticides suspected of causing trouble but the EC will only give approval when they are sure they are safe for the bees.
It has an abundance of honey and pollen, a healthy bee queen and lots of young bees but still the beehive is considered lost. The crucial worker bees to a bee colony are nowhere to be found, not even their bodies.
Thursday the European Commission (EC) published a paper putting forward a proposal to deal with this syndrome that has been haunting beekeepers, called “colony collapse disorder” (CCD) and declining bee health. In its communiqué, the EC puts forward actions to be taken, or are already in motion, to collect data on the extent and cause of the problem of disappearing bees and to protect bees into the future.
The EC is quite concerned since honeybees are important not only for producing honey, but also as pollinators. According to Plant Research International, 35 percent of all plants like fruit trees rely on the pollination by insects such as bees.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states on its website that in the U.S., bee pollination of crops is worth $15 billion per year. For example, the almond industry in California alone used about half of the 2.3 million colonies in the country in 2009 for pollination. In the European Union, about 700,000 beekeepers maintain almost 14 million colonies, according to the EC communiqué.
Although beekeepers have been reporting looses due CCD for years, not much is known about its cause. Suspected causes include side effects of pesticides, a new parasite or pathogen, and more stresses on the environment are stated.
Extension Apiculturist, Dr. Eric C. Mussen of University of California says it is a worldwide problem. In the U.S., 25 percent of the beekeepers across the country ranging in size from 1 to 15,000 colonies have recurring problems with CCD.
He believes that in the U.S., CCD is caused by an infectious disease, which they have not yet identified. His reasoning is based on the fact that when bees are introduced to replace the dead one, they die as well. But when the hive is cleaned properly the new bees can survive.
Mussen believes it might not be the same problem all over the world but says probably a combination of factors might be contributing to the problem. An increased level of stress in the environment makes the bees more receptive for fungi or other disturbances, for example.
Tjeerd Blacquiere, an entomologist at Plant Research International and a beekeeper explained to the Epoch Times in a previous article, some ways in which a changing environment leads to a bee colony collapse.
For example upscaling in agriculture with large fields of crops like corn and grain reduces the availability of highly nutritious food thus disrupting the dynamics of a hive. More bees need to take the role usually reserved for older bees of going out for nectar. The short lifespan of these workers bees leads to a quick collapse of the hive.
The EC announced a variety of measures to help collect data and address the problems of CCD in member countries. Included in these measures will be a special European bee lab to help train veterinarians about bee health. The EC also promised to improve relevant regulations, and earmarked 32 million euro ($42.6 million) to support national programs aimed at finding causes and cures for CCD. The EC will also look for ways to make new and old medications more easily available to counter bee-attacking parasites like Nosema and Varroa. At the same time, it will seek to cooperate with international organizations to prevent new pesticides suspected of causing trouble but the EC will only give approval when they are sure they are safe for the bees.
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