The Several Likely Causes Of Bee Colony Collapse Syndrome

The Several Likely Causes Of Bee Colony Collapse Syndrome

Beekeepers have always suffered losses of their domesticated bees but in the past those losses were gradual and the beekeeper was always able to ascertain the cause, usually a bacteria, mite or some other germ and take helpful action. Not so with colony collapse disorder, (sometimes called colony collapse syndrome or colony collapse disease). With colony collapse disease more honey bees are dying off faster with no open-and-shut reason and because only the queen and a few worker bees are left alive the colony dies.

The vanishing honey bees is still a mystery. As yet there has been no firm hard information to point to any one cause for their end of life. This has led to the premise that there is more than one cause to colony collapse disorder (CCD). Reasonable causes are:

Genetically modified crops

An investigation carried out by a beekeeper, John McDonald, seems to suggest that genetically modified crops could be the cause of colony collapse syndrome. He placed eight honey bee colonies in an area where the honey bees would have no association with genetically modified crops and an equivalent number of honey bee hives on farms that grew GMO's. At the end of the season in October the results of the honey collecting of both sets of bees was examined. The results between the two sets of honey bee colonies were very dissimilar.

The 8 non-GMO bee colonies produced 150 pounds of honey, per hive, in the over-wintering brood supers. Plus, between them, the eight colonies produced 200 pounds of extra honey. The farm bees, on the other hand, had produced no extra honey and had not even packed the over-wintering brood supers. These farm honey bees will require feeding in order to get by the winter.

Pesticides

The pesticide believed to be the main culprit in causing colony collapse syndrome is nicotine-based Clothianidin, an insecticide in the neonicotinoid family. In Germany researchers found that 99 percent of expired bees had high levels of Clothianidin in their bodies. As a result the seven pesticides in the neonicotinoid family have been provisionally forbidden.

In the US imidacloprid seems to be the pesticide causing the most colony collapse syndrome. For example in North Dakota one third of colonies died after imidacloprid was applied on oil seed rape.

Mobile phones

Is the electromagnetic radiation given off by cell phones interfering with the honey bee's direction system thus preventing the bees from finding their way back to the hive. Some detective work carried out by Dr Jochen Kuhn shows that bees do not like going back to their hives when a mobile phone is located near the bee hive. If bees are trying to flee from cell phone radiation then this could elucidate why they are getting lost and unable to find their way home.

Foodstuff

Honey bees normally use natural material like pollen, sap, nectar, or other botanical materials, for modification into honey. When beekeepers take away this honey, which the bees would normally eat up over winter, and replace it with High Fructose Corn Syrup a natural raw foodstuff is being replaced with a highly processed dead foodstuff. HFCS is lacking in the many minerals and vitamins found in honey so the bees are forced to eat inferior food which results in their poor health and incapacitated immune systems.

So what is the cause of bee colony collapse disorder. Probably a combination of all of the above though GMOs, and the neonicotinoid pesticides, seem to be the main factors which has caused the dramatic increase in bees disappearing.

Know How 1-800 Vanity Numbers And Business Are Related To Each Other
Although the internet has encroached so much to how business is conducted today, the telephone remains the most preferred communication channel as far as business is concerned.

A Short Account Of Iscar From Across The Ages
From humble beginnings Iscar is now one of the world's leading manufacturers of cutting tools. Stef Wertheimer founded Iscar in 1952 in his garage. After several year and several expansions Iscar moved to it's current location in the Tefen Industrial Zone located in Israel's Western Galilee.

How To Make A Business Plan Efficiently To Get The Greatest
We all are well aware of the fact that good planning can save us a lot of productive time and help us in effectively executing all the tasks related to the accomplishment of our goals.

When Launching Your Own Enterprise At The Beginning The Best Way, If You Can, By Seeing Experts
Recently I decided that I wanted to investigate starting my own home based business. My husband was supportive of the idea but thought that we should begin by contacting an accounting service.

Finding The Appropriate PR Company May Be A Large Secret To Victory
Finding the right public relations firm is incredibly important, more so than small and medium-sized companies seem to think. Many business owners eschew the services of public relations firms. They feel like they don't need them at all.

An Overhead Projector: A Very Useful Teaching And Conferencing Machine Now
With an overhead projector, as it is commonly known, you can display images onto a screen or wall clearly and without any errors. The overhead projector is in fact consisting of a large box which is attached with a cooling fan and an extremely bright light.

Motor-Driven Projector Display For Powerful Presentations Which Are Certain To Impress
Presentations, short or long, have become the norm in today's academic as well as the corporate world. Presentations are necessary to put your point or suggestions across to people.

Related Articles

Blogroll