In This Article
30-Second Summary
Headline Link: ‘Survey Shows US Honey Bee Deaths Increased over Last Year’
Background: Haagen-Dazs chips in, suspect line-up and the food supply
Opinion & Analysis: Does the honeybee really matter?
Historical Context: 400 years of honeybee history
Reference: Pollinators, pollination, apiculture sites, and a map of affected states
Related Topic: Relying on imported honey
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Honeybee Death Rates on the Rise
May 07, 2008 01:55 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
by Matthew R. Bald
A new survey shows that 36.1 percent of America’s commercial beehives have been lost since last year, a devastating figure that may affect food supplies.
A new survey shows that 36.1 percent of America’s commercial beehives have been lost since last year, a devastating figure that may affect food supplies.
30-Second Summary
Although this is only the second year that bee health has been surveyed, last year’s probe revealed losses of about 32 percent.
“That's an astonishing number. Imagine if one out of every three cows, or one out of every three chickens, were dying. That would raise a lot of alarm,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, president of the Apiary Inspectors of America, the group who commissioned the survey.
In fact, bees are essential to one-third of the total U.S. food supply. Over 90 crops rely on bees for pollination, without which harvests of widely consumed fruits, nuts and vegetables could fail.
Perhaps most alarming is that most of the hive losses—29 percent according to this latest survey—are the result of a mysterious disease called Colony Collapse Disorder.
CCD describes a bee population that suddenly, and inexplicably, abandons its hive, queen and eggs. The first reports of the phenomenon surfaced in 2004, and by June 2007 the Department of Agriculture was calling it “the biggest general threat to our food supply.”
The potentially dire consequences of the disease haven’t escaped governmental attention. Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolf announced Tuesday that the state would provide $20,400 for CCD research at Pennsylvania State University.
Ice-cream maker Häagen-Dazs, which depends on pollinated crops for 40 percent of its 60 flavors, has also awarded $250,000 to CCD researchers at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Davis.
However, the only thing to come of the research so far has been a number of theories implicating pesticides, fungi, parasites, cell phones, genetically modified crops and viruses.
“That's an astonishing number. Imagine if one out of every three cows, or one out of every three chickens, were dying. That would raise a lot of alarm,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, president of the Apiary Inspectors of America, the group who commissioned the survey.
In fact, bees are essential to one-third of the total U.S. food supply. Over 90 crops rely on bees for pollination, without which harvests of widely consumed fruits, nuts and vegetables could fail.
Perhaps most alarming is that most of the hive losses—29 percent according to this latest survey—are the result of a mysterious disease called Colony Collapse Disorder.
CCD describes a bee population that suddenly, and inexplicably, abandons its hive, queen and eggs. The first reports of the phenomenon surfaced in 2004, and by June 2007 the Department of Agriculture was calling it “the biggest general threat to our food supply.”
The potentially dire consequences of the disease haven’t escaped governmental attention. Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolf announced Tuesday that the state would provide $20,400 for CCD research at Pennsylvania State University.
Ice-cream maker Häagen-Dazs, which depends on pollinated crops for 40 percent of its 60 flavors, has also awarded $250,000 to CCD researchers at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Davis.
However, the only thing to come of the research so far has been a number of theories implicating pesticides, fungi, parasites, cell phones, genetically modified crops and viruses.
Headline Link: ‘Survey Shows US Honey Bee Deaths Increased over Last Year’
Because this is only the second year that colony deaths have been measured on a national level, “there aren’t enough numbers to show a trend,” reports the Associated Press. However, “clearly bees are dying at unsustainable levels and the situation is not improving,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Associated Press)
Background: Haagen-Dazs chips in, suspect line-up and the food supply
Israeli acute paralysis virus
The “Israeli acute paralysis virus” is the latest in a growing lineup of possible culprits responsible for the disappearance of 90 percent of the wild honeybee population in the United States. Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist and co-author of this most recent study, expressed relief that researchers “have a lead now we can begin to follow.” However, the study was careful to note that the problem most likely stems from a combination of factors
The “Israeli acute paralysis virus” is the latest in a growing lineup of possible culprits responsible for the disappearance of 90 percent of the wild honeybee population in the United States. Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist and co-author of this most recent study, expressed relief that researchers “have a lead now we can begin to follow.” However, the study was careful to note that the problem most likely stems from a combination of factors
Source: Discovery Channel News
Science Express offers an abstract and the full text of the report.
Source: Science Express
Diana Cox-Foster, an entomologist at Pennsylvania State University and Jeffrey S. Pettis, an entomologist at the United States Department of Agriculture, have been leading a research team dedicated to CCD since April of 2007. At that time the team said that its primary suspects were either “a virus, a fungus or a pesticide,” but it has yet to publish any definitive results.
Source: The New York Times (may require free registration)
Nosema ceranae
On April 26, 2007, the researcher who discovered the SARS virus in 2003 made what he thought to be a breakthrough in the honeybee mystery. By examining the dead tissue of CCD-affected bees, University of California at San Francisco biochemist Joe DeRisi was able to detect a once-rare microbe that had previously affected only Asian bees. Unfortunately the microbe, called Nosema ceranae, has yet to be established as the cause of CCD.
On April 26, 2007, the researcher who discovered the SARS virus in 2003 made what he thought to be a breakthrough in the honeybee mystery. By examining the dead tissue of CCD-affected bees, University of California at San Francisco biochemist Joe DeRisi was able to detect a once-rare microbe that had previously affected only Asian bees. Unfortunately the microbe, called Nosema ceranae, has yet to be established as the cause of CCD.
Source: The San Francisco Chronicle
Cell phones
In early April 2007, scientists at the University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany stated that the radiation emitted from cell phones could be the cause of the disappearing bee population. Dr. Jochen Khun's team hypothesized that cellular radiation actually disrupts the navigation capabilities of bees, preventing them from finding their way back to their hives and decimating their colony.
In early April 2007, scientists at the University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany stated that the radiation emitted from cell phones could be the cause of the disappearing bee population. Dr. Jochen Khun's team hypothesized that cellular radiation actually disrupts the navigation capabilities of bees, preventing them from finding their way back to their hives and decimating their colony.
Source: The Independent
Genetically modified crops
On March 22, 2007, the online version of Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine featured an article examining the connection between genetically modified crops and the plummeting bee population. Although the study featured in the article found no direct connection between bee deaths and GM crops, it did conclude that the bees exposed to these crops had a much higher mortality rate when infested with a parasite.
On March 22, 2007, the online version of Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine featured an article examining the connection between genetically modified crops and the plummeting bee population. Although the study featured in the article found no direct connection between bee deaths and GM crops, it did conclude that the bees exposed to these crops had a much higher mortality rate when infested with a parasite.
Source: Der Spiegel
Threat to the food supply
Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for the USDA’s bee and pollination program, has called America’s CCD epidemic "the biggest general threat to our food supply.” Aside from the numerous pollination-reliant crops that could be directly affected by the bees’ disappearance, much of the country’s cattle feed on bee-dependent alfalfa crops. This means that if the collapse continues, Americans could find themselves “stuck with grains and water” as the mainstays of their diet, stated Hackett.
Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for the USDA’s bee and pollination program, has called America’s CCD epidemic "the biggest general threat to our food supply.” Aside from the numerous pollination-reliant crops that could be directly affected by the bees’ disappearance, much of the country’s cattle feed on bee-dependent alfalfa crops. This means that if the collapse continues, Americans could find themselves “stuck with grains and water” as the mainstays of their diet, stated Hackett.
Source: USA Today
Häagen-Dazs, which is owned by General Mills, says that bee pollination is responsible for 40 percent of its 60 flavors, including strawberry, toasted pecan and banana split. "These are among consumers' favorite flavors," Häagen-Dazs Brand Director Katty Pien said.
Source: CNN Money
Opinion & Analysis: Does the honeybee really matter?
Heather Smith of Slate isn't worried about the honeybee's mysterious disappearance. In her article titled "The Disappearance of the Honeybee Isn't the End of the World," Smith points out that "we already get most of [our honey] from overseas," and "the honeybee isn't the only insect that can pollinate our crops ... Research labs have gotten serious about cultivating other insects for mass pollination. They aren't at the point yet where they can provide all of the country's pollination needs, but they're getting there.
Source: Slate
However, not everyone is optimistic about the situation. Mark Morford of the San Francisco Chronicle has a much more apocalyptic viewpoint, writing that “regardless of whether or not we figure it out, Colony Collapse Disorder is merely one more of those charming warning signs, one of those increasingly frequent messages from the gods writ large across the sky of humanity's arrogance and merciless abuse of nature's integrity … it's an abuse we've engaged in for so long we don't even really think about it anymore. And therein lies our likely demise.”
Source: The San Francisco Chronicle
May Berenbaum of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discussed Colony Collapse Disorder with Smithsonian Magazine. When asked if the disorder really amounts to a crisis, Berenbaum replied that “it's a crisis on top of a crisis. [It had previously been projected that] commercial beekeeping [might] cease to exist in the United States by 2035—and that was before colony collapse disorder. And we can't count on wild pollinators because we've so altered the landscape that many are no longer viable.”
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
Historical Context: 400 years of honeybee history
The honeybee is not native species to the United States, but in fact “was introduced to North America 400 years ago by colonists at Jamestown and Williamsburg to provide their settlements with honey.” The Natural Resource Defense Council’s magazine, On Earth, charts the string of infestations and die-offs that have plagued the honeybee since it first landed on American shores. These include the Varroa mite infestation of the 1980s, and the destruction wrought by the insecticide Penncap-M in the 1990s.
Source: On Earth
Reference: Pollinators, pollination, apiculture sites, and a map of affected states
The role of bees, birds, and bats as pollinators contributes to the production of 35 percent of the world’s crops. “You can thank a pollinator for one out of every three bites of food you eat,” assistant Professor at the University of California at Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science Claire Kremen told Science Daily.
Source: Science Daily
Pollination is “the transfer of pollen grains from a male structure of a plant to a female structure of a plant.” Microsoft Encarta explains how pollination works and the important role bees and other insects play in the process.
Source: Microsoft Encarta
The Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium offers up-to-date news and information about both the impact of Colony Collapse Disorder and its possible causes.
Source: The Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium
The American Beekeepers Federation has been closely following the bee disappearance story, offering news for and by the beekeeping industry.
Source: The American Beekeepers Federation
NewScientist provides a map of states affected by Colony Collapse Disorder.
Source: NewScientist
Related Topic: Relying on imported honey
As bee populations disappear, the amount of imported honey from China and Argentina is lowering domestic honey prices, worrying American beekeepers.
Source: The New York Times (free registration may be required)
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