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 honey bees but in the old times those losses were limited and the beekeeper was always able to discover the cause, usually a bacteria, mite or some other mold and take useful action. Not so with colony collapse disorder, (sometimes called colony collapse syndrome or colony collapse disease). With colony collapse disorder more bees are declining faster with no unmistakable reason and because only the queen and a few workers are left alive the colony dies.

The disappearing honeybees is still a mystery. As yet there has been no firm revelation to point to any one cause for their death. This has led to the theory that there is more than one cause to colony collapse disorder (CCD). Conceivable causes are:

Genetically modified crops

An experiment carried out by a beekeeper, John McDonald, seems to suggest that genetically modified crops could be the cause of colony collapse disease. He placed eight bee colonies in a place where the bees would have no proximity with genetically modified crops and an equal number of bee hives on farms that grew genetically modified crops. At the end of the season in October the results of the honey collecting of both sets of honey bees was examined. The results between the two sets of bee colonies were very unlike.

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

Pesticides

The pesticide believed to be the main culprit in causing colony collapse disorder is nicotine-based Clothianidin, an insecticide in the neonicotinoid family. In Germany investigators found that 99 percent of demised bees had high levels of Clothianidin in their bodies. As a result the 7 pesticides in the neonicotinoid family have been provisionally prohibited.

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

Cell phones

Is the electromagnetic radiation given off by cell phones interfering with the bee's orientation system thus preventing the honey bees from locating their way back to the hive. Some fact-finding carried out by Dr Jochen Kuhn shows that honey bees do not like going back to their hives when a cell phone is situated near the hive. If bees are trying to evade mobile phone radiation then this could clarify why they are getting lost and incapable of finding their way home.

Foodstuffs

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

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The Several Likely Causes Of Bee Colony Collapse Syndrome