Honeybee collapse

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Introduction

Honey bees are useful social creatures that are ideal for pollination. They are easy to manage and transport and they do not choose where their nectar comes from and hence easily adapt to pollinating many plants. Recently there has been a spontaneous tendency of honey bees abandoning their hives known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). It is the worker bees from the hives that are disappearing from the colonies. For centuries, bees have been abandoning their hives and were referred using different names such as spring dwindle, disappearing disease, autumn collapse and so on. However, the rate at which the bees have been disappearing has increased over the recent years (Dainat, et al, 2009). CCD has a huge economic impact since most agricultural crops all over the world are pollinated by honey bees.

In the colonies that have collapsed, CCD is suspected when adult bees are completely absent from the colonies and lack or build up of any dead bees within the hive. A colony that has collapsed due to CCD is characterized by several conditions occurring at the same time. These conditions include a capped brood found within the abandoned colonies. Usually, bees only abandon a capped brood only when all of them have hatched. Another condition is food stores like bee pollen and honey that’s hive pests like wax moth have attacked. Another condition is the queen bees being present in the hives. Currently, the issue of CCD has brought about a lot of concern to the society.

Background information on the groups of chemicals pertinent to the case study

There are various groups of chemicals that are considered to be potential contributors of the Colony Collapse Disorder. In order to examine CCD from a toxicological viewpoint, it is important to closely examine these groups of chemicals. These three groups of chemicals are miticides, antibiotics and neonicotinoid pesticides.

Miticides

Miticides are a group pf chemicals that are used prevent bees from being attacked by mites. However, there are some miticides such as Floramite and Avid that cause more harm than good to the bees (Schacker, 2008). These miticides pose a great danger to the bees and hence they can eventually lead to their disappearance.

Antibiotics

Honey bees might end up suffering from bacterial diseases. Antibiotics are therefore, useful in the treatment of these bacterial infections in honey bees. There exist different antibiotics some of which are quite useful in treating bacterial infections. Some of the antibiotics have been proved to be effective for different infectious diseases among honey bees. Bacterial diseases can be very dangerous to honey bees and hence using antibiotics is inevitable for honey bee keepers. However, there are some antibiotics that can be harmful to the honey bees. There are antibiotics like oxytetracycline that interacts with specific proteins in the bees hence making the bees resistant. It leads to an increased risk of the bees dying as a result of pesticides.

Neonicotinoid pesticides

Neonicotinoid pesticides normally affect the Central nervous system of the bees hence have the potential of causing intoxication. These pesticides have imidacloprid as an active ingredient and other chemicals like thiamethoxam and clothianidin. Neonicotinoid are commonly used pesticides for bees in the entire world. The chemicals contained in these pesticides affect honey bees when they are used to treat seeds since they work through the entire plant up to the leaves and flowers and get deposited in the nectar. Currently, there are countries where the use of neonicotinoid pesticides has been banned due to their numerous negative effects. Some of these effects are causing nutrition disorders and causing the immune system to be weak.

Analysis of the key potential causes of the phenomena

Scientists have come up with many theories that try to give an explanation to the major causes of CCD that has resulted to millions of bees disappearing. No conclusion has been made on one single factor that can be attributed to CCD. There are various reasons that have been proposed as causes of CCD such as electromagnetic radiation. According to research, close-range electromagnetic field can lead to the reduction in the bee’s ability to return to their hives. Another proposed cause of CCD is malnutrition. This is attributed to the fact that the honey bees are fed on high-fructose corn syrup. CCD can also be due to feeding the honey bees on monoculture diets as opposed to giving a variety of foods from different sources (Flynn, 2013). Another cause of CCD is stress that is more than what bees can handle. Most of the bee keepers usually stretch their pollination season hence the bees lack enough time to recover during winter before they are hauled to new crops. There have also been droughts that have made it difficult for the bees to get enough nectar. When these stressors are combined with other factors such as poor nutrition, they can lead to a disruption of the immune system of bees and hence making them susceptible to diseases.

CCD is also caused by chemicals such as pesticides that are used to protect crops against pests. These pesticides are quite toxic to the honey bees. Neonicotinoids are responsible for causing CCD especially on those honey bees that were healthy before winter. CCD is also attributed to pathogens and parasites. Deformed wing virus is a virus that infects the honey bees and spreads among the workers within the colony. The virus can end up replicating beyond control and hence destroy the honey bee colonies. Another parasite is nosema which is a fungal parasite (Flynn, 2013). They get their cells into the cytoplasm of the intestinal cell of the honey bees and undergo rapid replication. There are also some paralytic viruses which make honey bees immobile and hence not able to fly. Changes in climate have also been linked to CCD. A rise in global temperatures results to warm winters and drought hence a limited amount of nectar is available for the honey bees.

Summary of articles and Conclusion

There are many articles available discussing the issue of CCD. One article that discusses CCD is Colony collapse disorder in Europe by Dainat, et al. The article provides information on some of the factors that lead to CCD and how they can be prevented. The article also provides information on the symptoms of CCD and hence makes it easy to recognize the disorder when it takes place. Another article by Flynn, K, suggests that chemical components are the major cause of CCD. The article explains the different chemical components and how they lead to CCD.

I believe that Colony Collapse Disorder is due to extensive use of chemicals by farmers. If the use of chemicals in plants is reduced, then there will be a significant decline in CCD.

References

Dainat, B., Vanengelsdorp, D., & Neumann, P. (2009). Colony collapse disorder in Europe. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 123-125.

 Flynn, K. (2013). Colony Collapse Disorder. Chicago: Wings Press.

Schacker, M. (2008). A spring without bees: How colony collapse disorder has endangered our food supply. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press ;.