10 Possible Causes of Colony Collapse Disorder

[Jcrowley]

This was sent to me in an e-mail and was part of a presentation before U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture. There is no direct link so if this is not fitting within protocol feel free to delete the thread:

What causes CCD?

The "cause" of CCD is under investigation. To be sure, the hysteria
surrounding CCD has outpaced the science. Beekeepers and investigators have
suggested varroa, inadequate rainfall, proximity to power lines, colony
treatments, moving stresses, genetically modified crops, lack of genetic
diversity, inadequate nutrition and chemicals present in the environment,
just to name a few, as possible causes of CCD. At this point, almost every
conceivable and realistic cause remains a possibility. The leading
candidates and a brief explanation of their potential role are listed below.



1. *Traditional bee pests and diseases (including American foulbrood,
European foulbrood, chalkbrood, nosema, small hive beetles, and tracheal
mites): These bee maladies likely are not responsible for CCD because
they do not have a history of causing CCD-like symptoms. That said,
traditional bee pests and diseases may exacerbate CCD. With that in mind,
scientists have not abandoned experiments investigating these candidates.

2. *Style of feeding bees and type of bee food: The style of feeding
bees and types of bee food used to feed bees vary considerably among
beekeepers reporting CCD losses. As such, no correlation has been found
between what colonies were fed and their likelihood of survival. Despite
this lack of evidence, many beekeepers have abandoned the practice of
feeding high fructose corn syrup to bees due to indications that it can form
byproducts that are harmful to bees.

3. *How the bees were managed: Management style is a broad category
but it can include the type of income pursued with bees (honey production,
pollination services, etc.) or what routine colony management beekeepers
perform (splitting hives, swarm control, chemical use, etc.). As you can
imagine, both of these vary considerably among beekeepers so this possible
cause of CCD is given less attention. That said, poor management can make
any colony malady worse.

4. Queen source: Initial investigations considering queen source as
a cause of CCD have turned up no evidence that the disorder is tied to queen
production. Yet, scientists are investigating the lack of genetic diversity
and lineage of bees, both related to queen quality, as possible causes of
CCD. Regarding the former, it has been said that fewer than 500 breeder
queens produce the millions of queen bees (and therefore all bees) used
throughout the U.S. Geneticists refer to this as a genetic bottle
neck. This lack of genetic biodiversity has, in effect, made U.S.
honey bees a virtual monoculture. Monocultures usually are susceptible to
any pest/disease that invades the system. Honey bees are no exception.

5. Chemical use in bee colonies: Without doubt, the beekeeping
industry is overly-dependent on chemical pesticides and antibiotics used to
treat various bee-related maladies. Overuse and misuse of these chemicals
(including insecticides, vitamins, snake oils, etc.) is rampant. In many
cases, the pesticides used to control varroa
mite<http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/bees/varroa_mite.htm >and small
hive beetles<http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/bees/small_hive_beetle.htm(just
to name two examples) double as insecticides in other pest management
schemes. Putting insecticides into insect colonies cannot be beneficial to
bees, even if the chemicals are not killing the bees outright. A number of
newly-discovered, sub-lethal effects of these chemicals on honey bees
(workers, queens, and drones) should be given stronger consideration as
possible causes of CCD.

6. Chemical toxins in the environment: A popular theory is that
chemical toxins in the environment are responsible for CCD. In many
instances, the beekeepers reporting colony losses manage large migratory
beekeeping operations. In migratory operations, beekeepers move bees from
blooming crop to blooming crop around the country. Because pesticides are
used widely in cropping systems in an effort to kill herbivorous insects,
one is left to consider the potential for non-target chemical effects on
bees. In addition to being exposed to chemicals while foraging on our
nation's crops, honey bees also may acquire chemicals through contaminated
water sources as they drink water containing chemical runoff. Conceivably,
these chemical residues can accumulate in wax and food stores in the colony,
thus killing bees.

7. Genetically modified crops: A number of people have blamed
genetically modified crops for the widespread bee deaths. Scientists have
begun initial investigations into this theory but all available data suggest
that genetically modified crops are not the culprit, at least as far as the
plants themselves are concerned. Interestingly, many seeds from which
genetically modified crops are grown are dipped first in systemic
insecticides that later appear in the plants' nectar and pollen. This makes
genetically modified plants suspect because of their chemical treatment
history, not because they are genetically modified.

8. Varroa mites and associated pathogens: Even with the hysteria
surrounding CCD, varroa
mite<http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/bees/varroa_mite.htm >remains
the world's most prolific honey bee killers. Not surprisingly,
varroa and the viruses they transmit have been considered as possible causes
of CCD. The primary flaw with this theory is that varroa have been in the
U.S. only since 1987. Therefore, it is impossible for varroa to have
caused the CCD-like outbreaks that occurred prior to 1987. A final point
worth considering in the varroa/CCD issue is that many of the chemicals used
in bee colonies are used to control varroa. So varroa (perhaps not directly)
has been considered a leading candidate because the mite itself is damaging,
it transmits viruses to bees, and it elicits an all-out chemical assault
from beekeepers.

9. Nutritional fitness: Scientists have proposed nutritional fitness
of adult bees as a potential cause of CCD. This topic is being investigated
although little information exists currently to suggest nutrition is playing
a role. Malnutrition is a stress to bees, possibly weakening the bees'
immune system. This could have devastating effects on the bees' ability to
fight pests and diseases.

10. Undiscovered/new pests and diseases: Finally, undiscovered or
unidentified pests/pathogens are considered a possible cause of CCD. Many of
the known bee pests and diseases in the U.S. were introduced in the
last 30 years. We can expect this trend to continue as globalization
increases. This is already happening. For example, Nosema apis (a
protozoa that lives in the digestive tract of honey bees) has been present
in the U.S. for many years. In 2006, scientists discovered and
identified a new nosema species, Nosema ceranae, present in some
colonies displaying symptoms of CCD (it also has been found in bee samples
dating back to 1995). When this disease is present in bees in elevated
levels, the bees wander from colonies, never to return. Although many do not
consider *N. ceranae* to be the cause of CCD, it and other new
pathogens may play an important role in elevated bee deaths.

Many scientists believe that CCD is caused by a combination of the factors
above. To illustrate this point, some dead bees showing symptoms of CCD have
had high numbers of normally-benign pathogens in their bodies. The data
suggest a massive immune system crash in infected bees, an event that allows
normally-benign pathogens to kill the bees. In theory, any stress or
combination of stresses (chemicals, genetic bottlenecks, varroa, etc.) can
suppress a bee's immune system. Considering synergistic effects as a
potential cause of CCD makes the disorder increasingly harder to study, but
for now, this conclusion seems to be the safest assumption.

Mid-Atlantic Apiary Research and Extension Consortium:
http://www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/index.html

[asthmaticeog]

1. Um, you might want to edit your post to turn off smileys.

Your squandering a lot of gravitas, here.

[Jcrowley]

2. Thanks n/t

[Ganja Ninja]

3. You can add one more possibility to the list.

Cell Phones.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x29511

[tanyev]

4. If it is cell phones, we're screwed.

Not many people are going to give up their phones just because food prices might skyrocket a few years down the road.

[Ganja Ninja]

6. In a way I wish it was cell phones.

They are probably the most evil invention of modern times.:sarcasm:

[XemaSab]

9. I'm deeply skeptical of the cell phone theory

but honeybee extinction would not just trigger a rise in food costs, but a total food crisis.

Bees pollinate up to 90 different food crops, including most fruits, nuts, berries, melons, and cruciferous vegetables.

It would be a HUGH bummer.

[tanyev]

30. I was originally going to say mass starvation,

but I figured I would get slammed for being too melodramatic. Although it would be nearly impossible to pry phones away from some people's ears and twitching hands, I guess it would still be easier to do that than to get rid of GMO crops. I hope they figure out the true cause soon. Very soon.

[GETPLANING]

13. I go with the cell phone radiation theory

Bees are extremely sensitive to magnetic effects. They have a bio-nav system that guides them across huge expanses of terrain and back again. All the noise generated by cellular transmission towers must wreak havok with the little guys. The timeline of the growth of the cellular communications networks coincides with the sudden decline in bee populations pretty closely. I'm no scientist, but I do study cause and effect and trends for a living, and this is what my gut tells me.

[dysfunctional press]

24. one or two problems with the cell-phone theory...

CCD started in the U.S., and has since started up in parts of europe as well...BUT- cell phone usage was much more widespread in europe before it really took hold in the U.S.- so if it were the cell phones, shouldn't the ccd have started in europe and then on to the u.s, instead of the other way around?

plus- as some people have noted- ccd is occuring in remote rural areas with very little cell phone reception or towers- like areas of west virginia and the u.p. of michigan.

[XemaSab]

32. They're not little guys

They're little gals. :D

[soothsayer]

5. also heard that stronger UV rays were blinding the bees (this didn't make

a whole lot of sense to me, but why not throw it into the mix! teeny tiny bee sunglasses)

[AnneD]

17. They use the sun to

orient themselves but I think this is a red herring. My bets are on the mono culture and/or the GM crops having an affect that may not know about. I have some bees that like one of my trees. It is a new place to me so I have nothing to compare it too but these are wild honey bees and they look healthy and numerous to me. I wonder about the bee keeping techniques of these commercial bee keepers too.

[dysfunctional press]

26. less ozone means more uv radiation.

we need to start marketing some spf 40 to the bees.

[bananas]

7. Mad Bee Disease caused by prions. nt

[SpiralHawk]

8. A channeled message from the bees

"George AWOL Bush and allied republicon cronies have so screwed up the
planet that we are checking out and re-incarnating on ur anus."



- Buzzzzzzy

[Javaman]

10. Why do the bee's hate America? nt

[IndyOp]

11. Is CCD happening to wild colonies or only those that are

being "raised" by humans? Colonies raised by humans have more exposure to chemicals, are closer to other hives, are closer to electric/cell phone systems...

Have there been observations reported by people who are keeping a close eye on wild colonies? Is there a chance that even if domesticated colonies collapse, wild colonies would live on?

[SmokingJacket]

18. That is an incredibly important distinction, and one I haven't

heard mentioned, because I was wondering too. If it's just the farmed bees, then something like cell phones are out, because that would affect all bees -- though you're right, only the ones in cell-covered areas.

And something wrong with the genetic lines of farmed bees could be at fault...

[TheWraith]

21. Just honeybees.

Of course, there are very few wild honeybee colonies, at least in North America, but as far as I'm aware, no wild bees are affected.

Last I heard, some scientists had announced that they'd determined it was mites. That would make a certain amount of sense, since the close quarters that production honeybees are put into would make a perfect environment for a mite and its accompanying diseases to thrive.

[dysfunctional press]

28. if it were mites tho, beekeepers could expect to find lots of dead/dying bees in the hives...

ccd is different- the bees just seem to dissappear, and not come back.

[Duppers]

12. this is a very serious problem

From here: http://www.celsias.com/blog/2007/03/15/bee-colony-collapse-disorder-where-is-it-heading/

There is "No Colony Collapse Disorder in Canada"
http://www.atlanticfarmfocus.ca/index.cfm?iid=2447&sid=20632

One clue is that CCD did not occurr with any significance until 18 months ago.

My bet is on three things: the damn cell phones, global warming, and/or GM crops. Less on GM because Canadians are using GM crops too.
(And yes, I own a damn cell phone but I'm not on the thing constantly and certainly not when driving.)

[blossomstar]

14. Thank you

I don't think a lot of people are aware of the gravity of the bee situation. Amazing how such a small insect is the basis of life as we know it on this planet, without them, we would have no food. Definitely a lesson to put things in proper perspective... Thank you again, very informative!

[motocicleta]

15. Thanks Jcrowley

This is an important dose of intelligence on the CCD issue. I will say that the cell phone possibility makes more sense in terms of immune suppression due to the added stress, rather than being the sole cause of CCD. Not that 'making more sense to me' is any kind of requirement for truth or scientific veracity, but, hey, hopefully it doesn't hurt.

However, if this hypothesis is accurate, it will make it much more difficult to make big changes; if immune suppression due to overwhelming combined stresses are the problem, how do we get stakeholders to each make some changes?

[Jcrowley]

31. Here's a bit more from a friend

The friend who sent the e-mail also sent this which was one part of an exchange between two parties who are studying this phenomenon:

It is true that much seed is treated with pesticides prior to planting. For example, corn seed is often treated with synthetic pyrethroids or other chemicals to deter corn rootworms. Much seed is also treated with fungicides to deter seedling diseases, and some of these (such as so-called dithiocarbamates) have some chemical similarities with insecticides. I don't know off the top of my head which of all the chemicals used that are systemic ( i.e., absorbed by the growing plant and transported throughout), or exactly how widely they are used, but the basic idea presented is correct (some of them, at least, are systemic). Another question is the concentration of these pesticides in pollen or nectar, because that would not necessarily be uniform throughout the plant.

Given how widely GE crops are grown, I think it is valid to raise them as a concern that should be considered. But there are also aspects of this that I think point against them as a major part of the problem (I have mentioned them in the past). There are many possible causes that may be responsible largely or in part, and we just don't know at this point what they are. I hope that those of you who are following this, and have a chance to influence the public discussion about it don't overplay the GE part of this, which could result in a backlash if they turn out not to have a role.

More importantly, this is an opportunity to make some broader points. First is that the general inadequacy of the testing (environmental and human health) of GE crops that leave more unanswered questions than they should ( e.g. the Ecological Society of Amercia, in published guidelines a few years ago recommended better testing and, in some cases, post commercialization monitoring, which are not part of regulations). All of the recent USDA events (lawsuits, IG report, contaminations) are good example, but also that USDA does not require any specific types of safety testing for approval (deregulation), relying instead on "performance standards" that are largely undefined (for example, the testing for environmental harm does not include the ability of a gene to spread through a wild population, and does not set standards for possible harm to non-target organisms like bees). EPA does require honeybee tests (for pesticidal crops), but these have been criticized.

Another major point is that industrialized agriculture, which GE contributes to and furthers, leads to sustainability issues that may (probably) include CCD. The entomologist you posted actually made some good and disturbing points - such as the genetic uniformity of queens, that make bees more susceptible to disease. A flip side to this is the tremendous uniformity encouraged by RR crops that are forcing glyphosate resistant weeds, that are leading to greater use of herbicides, or the increasing use of insecticides on Bt cotton in China.

[motocicleta]

34. Again, thanks

These are important voices to be heard.

I forgot to recommend earlier. I am doing so now.

[stirlingsliver]

16. Changes in the Earth's Magnetic Field.

I had heard that one possible cause might be changes in the Earth's magnetic field.

[Duppers]

19. European Bees Also Taking a Nosedive - Perhaps GM Crops?

European Bees Also Taking a Nosedive - Perhaps GM Crops?
March 29, 2007
· Filed under Agriculture & Food, Environment & Wildlife
by Craig Mackintosh

We’ve had significant interest in our recent posts on Colony Collapse Disorder in the U.S. (here, and here). The latter of the two stories intimated that European bees are also being affected. Spiegel have just released an article giving more info on this mysterious phenomenon - now hitting Germany’s bees hard - and experts are concerned that GM crops may be the root of the problem.

A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and the economy could be enormous.

… The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of causes, one being the varroa mite, introduced from Asia, and another is the widespread practice in agriculture of spraying wildflowers with herbicides and practicing monoculture. Another possible cause, according to Haefeker, is the controversial and growing use of genetic engineering in agriculture.

As far back as 2005, Haefeker ended an article he contributed to the journal Der Kritischer Agrarbericht (Critical Agricultural Report) with an Albert Einstein quote: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

Mysterious events in recent months have suddenly made Einstein’s apocalyptic vision seem all the more topical. For unknown reasons, bee populations throughout Germany are disappearing — something that is so far only harming beekeepers. But the situation is different in the United States, where bees are dying in such dramatic numbers that the economic consequences could soon be dire. No one knows what is causing the bees to perish, but some experts believe that the large-scale use of genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor.

… Since last November, the US has seen a decline in bee populations so dramatic that it eclipses all previous incidences of mass mortality. Beekeepers on the east coast of the United States complain that they have lost more than 70 percent of their stock since late last year, while the west coast has seen a decline of up to 60 percent.

… It is particularly worrisome, she said, that the bees’ death is accompanied by a set of symptoms “which does not seem to match anything in the literature.”

… Walter Haefeker, the German beekeeping official, speculates that “besides a number of other factors,” the fact that genetically modified, insect-resistant plants are now used in 40 percent of cornfields in the United States could be playing a role. The figure is much lower in Germany — only 0.06 percent — and most of that occurs in the eastern states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. Haefeker recently sent a researcher at the CCD Working Group some data from a bee study that he has long felt shows a possible connection between genetic engineering and diseases in bees.

Monsanto’s bt Corn. It’s caused controversy the world over. Could it be a bee killer too?
The study in question is a small research project conducted at the University of Jena from 2001 to 2004. The researchers examined the effects of pollen from a genetically modified maize variant called “Bt corn” on bees. A gene from a soil bacterium had been inserted into the corn that enabled the plant to produce an agent that is toxic to insect pests. The study concluded that there was no evidence of a “toxic effect of Bt corn on healthy honeybee populations.” But when, by sheer chance, the bees used in the experiments were infested with a parasite, something eerie happened. According to the Jena study, a “significantly stronger decline in the number of bees” occurred among the insects that had been fed a highly concentrated Bt poison feed.

According to Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at the University of Halle in eastern Germany and the director of the study, the bacterial toxin in the genetically modified corn may have “altered the surface of the bee’s intestines, sufficiently weakening the bees to allow the parasites to gain entry — or perhaps it was the other way around. We don’t know.”

Of course, the concentration of the toxin was ten times higher in the experiments than in normal Bt corn pollen. In addition, the bee feed was administered over a relatively lengthy six-week period.

Kaatz would have preferred to continue studying the phenomenon but lacked the necessary funding. “Those who have the money are not interested in this sort of research,” says the professor, “and those who are interested don’t have the money.” - Spiegel

That’s one of the upside-down aspects of our modern society - funding is only there if there is a profit to be made. There is no (direct) profit to be made from proving a link between the GM ‘products’ of big agribusiness and damage to ecosystems, and, of course, certainly no motivation to do so - so critical studies are left incomplete.

Many in the U.S. are also pondering the same questions:

That there is Bt in beehives is not a question. Beekeepers spray Bt under hive lids sometimes to control the wax moth, an insect whose larval forms produce messy webs on honey. Canadian beekeepers have detected the disappearance of the wax moth in untreated hives, apparently a result of worker bees foraging in fields of transgenic canola plants.

Bees forage heavily on corn flowers to obtain pollen for the rearing of young broods, and these pollen grains also contain the Bt gene of the parent plant, because they are present in the cells from which pollen forms.

Is it not possible that while there is no lethal effect directly to the new bees, there might be some sublethal effect, such as immune suppression, acting as a slow killer?

The planting of transgenic corn and soybean has increased exponentially, according to statistics from farm states. Tens of millions of acres of transgenic crops are allowing Bt genes to move off crop fields.

A quick and easy way to get an approximate answer would be to make a comparison of colony losses of bees from regions where no genetically modified crops are grown, and to put test hives in areas where modern farming practices are so distant from the hives that the foraging worker bees would have no exposure to them.

Given that nearly every bite of food that we eat has a pollinator, the seriousness of this emerging problem could dwarf all previous food disruptions. - San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.celsias.com/blog/2007/03/29/european-bees-taking-a-nosedive/

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. radiation from cell phones?

It was posted on DU yesterday.

[progressoid]

22. The Clenis did it.

[necso]

23. Imo, this is an issue

requiring serious scientific study; not only because of the importance of honey-bees, but as a possible indicator of greater problems.

Certain causes might affect other types of bees and other pollinating insects, and the study of "wild" insects (and honey-bees not moved around) offers opportunities that (moved) "kept" hives don't offer (do not offer as well), and vice-versa.

Moreover, selection among kept bees might differ from those in the wild, and it would be interesting to see if there are differences between captured versus bred swarms (queens) in terms of resistance/susceptibility.

...

Oh, and beware of the greenwash gushing from the corporatists.

[necso]

35. There are apparently still some openings for

the AQMD gas-for-electric lawnmower exchange (you have to pay $100; but it's a good deal).

http://www.aqmd.gov/tao/lawnmower.html

http://www.aqmd.gov/lawnmowerexchange

(Needed somewhere to post this. Oopsy.)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. You forgot...

chemtrails, big foot, and Clinton's penis.

[TZ]

29. nope

Its either zombie bacteria or you know- Big Yak! LOL

[Pathwalker]

27. Question: Are the honey bees out and about now?

Because there's some kind of bees loving the heck out of my grape hyacinths these days. I'm in mid-Michigan, but since I'm allergic to bees, I'm not getting close enough to positively identify them.

[nam78_two]

33. K&R.nt