There’s a lot to admire about the honey bee. They are often seen a symbol of an industrious good work ethic, as exemplified in the phrase “busy as a bee.” Of course, bees can also be deadly, a single bee sting in a person allergic to bees could result in a life threatening condition called anaphylaxis. The angry swarm of bees has been featured in many different forms of media including children’s cartoons and movies. Even Madeline Albright, who recently it was revealed used jewlery to communicate her mood, would wear a “bee brooch” when hinting to people that she might be in an angry mood.
However, a new documentary studying the phenomenon of “colony collapse disorder” may paint bees in a different light for the public. Colony collapse disorder refers to the unexpected disappearance of honey bee colonies, in addition to an overall decrease in bee populations that seemed to have accelerated in 2006. Beekeepers in both the United States and Europe have noticed a substantial decrease in the number of bee colonies over the past few years. Many hypothesis have been suggested, but no clear culprit has been identified.
Many biologists believe that a parasite, either viral, fungal, or insect may be killing off honey bees. While others believe that a more multi-factorial etiology is responsible. Others blame the disappearance on less likely candidates such as genetically modified crops, cell phone radiation, and insecticides. The documentary, “Vanishing of the Honey Bees” focuses on the possibility that insecticides may be to blame.
While man made chemicals, such as insecticides, may be to blame for the colon collapse disorder, the phenomenon has been observed since 1896 when it was called, among other things “dwindling disease.” However, this current collapse appears to be more severe than other collapses. Perhaps global warming, or even some unknown factor related to the current economic recession is playing a role in the bees disappearance. More detailed studies have revealed evidence that the bees immune system may be suppressed in many cases of colony collapsing disorder. This could certainly occur due to a variety of infectious diseases that bees may be develop.
The ramifications of the bees’ disappearance could very well be felt far beyond the confines of academia as many food crops require bees for pollination, such as almond, cherry and apple crops. Bee keepers earn more of their income from renting their bees out to different farms each year, than from honey production. Indeed, because many bee keepers move their bees around the country depending on the weather and where farmers need them, the cause of colony collapse disorder may be more difficult to identify. And migrating colonies of bees used for commercial purposes are more likely to transmit infectious organisms such as mites, fungi, and viruses.
A study group at Penn State has noted that many of the bees colonies before their disappearance were “stressed” by drought or malnutrition. Other research has discovered molecular evidence in the bees cells for infection with a virus as being a possible culprit. Quite possibly an infectious agent may be identified to be the cause of a large number of bee colony deaths.
Doubtlessly, many large agricultural producer of crops dependent on bee pollination are following news about colony collapse disorder very carefully.
Sources:
Albright’s Secret Brooch Diplomacy
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/articles/051114/14whisplead.htm
New Film Seeks to Answer Mystery of Disappearing Bees
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WireStory?id=8730727&page;=2
Colony Collapse Disorder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder
Genomic Study Yields Plausible Cause of Colony Collapse Disorder
http://www.midwestagnet.com/Global/story.asp?S=11142046
