04/26/2007: Colony collapse disorder is reducing U.S. bee population, and, no, it is not a good thing
By Zena McFadden
Medill News Service
WASHINGTON -- Having fewer bees around may sound like a good thing for all of those who have been stung by one. But bees are inexplicably dying off, and experts estimate the United States could lose up to half its honeybee population, with potentially serious consequences for farmers and consumers.
Colony collapse disorder, or CCD, the name that scientists have given to the problem, has them stumped. It's already been going on for two years.
The Senate Agriculture Committee considered the issue at a hearing Tuesday.
Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) declared in a statement that the bee decline should be an important part of the current discussion of a new farm bill. "The U.S. honey industry is facing one of the most serious threats ever from colony collapse disorder," he stated. "The bee losses associated with this disorder are staggering and portend equally grave consequences for the producers of crops that rely on honeybees for pollination. These crops include many speciality crops and alfalfa, so viable honey bee colonies are critically important across our entire food and agriculture sector."
Mark Brady, president of the American Honey Producers Association Inc., told the committee that "honey bees pollinate more than 90 food, fiber and seed crops. In particular, the fruits, vegetables and nuts that are cornerstones of a balanced and healthy diet are especially dependent on continued access to honey bee pollination."
Brady went on: "The importance of this pollination to contemporary agriculture cannot be understated. The value of pollinated crops is vastly greater than the total value of honey and wax produced by honey bees. The scale of commercial pollination is also vast. Each year more than 140 billion honey bees representing 2 million colonies are employed by U.S. beekeepers across and around the country to pollinate a wide range of important crops."
He asked Congress to "work closely with beekeepers, agricultural producers, researchers and others on an urgent basis to find the causes of CCD and to develop effective measures to address this new and serious threat."
The strange malady became apparent when beekeepers realized that worker bees were vanishing from their hives. The queen bees and the younger bees were all in place, but the ones that do the work for the highly structured society had disappeared and their bodies were nowhere to be found. "This is what makes the phenomenon so hard. There are no actual dead bees to study," said May Berenbaum, head of the entomology department at the University of Illinois.
In January of this year a national working group was established to determine the cause of the disease. The group includes representatives from government, universities and some private interests, according to Berenbaum.
The group has reported finding a large number of disease organisms in the colonies but no one disease identifiable as the culprit.
Not all parts of the United States have been affected, said Phil Nixon, a professor at the University of Illinois who specializes in pesticide safety. Cases have been reported in several midwestern states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio.
Bees make a lot of honey in the United States. They produced one hundred fifty-five million pounds in 2004, according to the American Honey Producers Association Inc.
More importantly, commercial beekeepers supply bees for the pollination of many agricultural crops. Without pollination, almonds, apples, broccoli, cranberries, strawberries, alfalfa, soybeans, cotton and other plants can't reproduce.
Although CCD is a relatively new phenomenon, a number of pop-theories have developed about the source of the die-off including increased use of cell phones, global warming and the growing of genetically modified crops.
Berenbaum points out that CCD exists in places where cell phones are not used and that Illinois, which grows genetically modified crops and would be as susceptible to global warming as any state, has no reported cases. "Some of the best biologists and researchers in the country are working on the problem, " Berenbaum said.
ARTICLE IS HERE
Medill News Service
WASHINGTON -- Having fewer bees around may sound like a good thing for all of those who have been stung by one. But bees are inexplicably dying off, and experts estimate the United States could lose up to half its honeybee population, with potentially serious consequences for farmers and consumers.
Colony collapse disorder, or CCD, the name that scientists have given to the problem, has them stumped. It's already been going on for two years.
The Senate Agriculture Committee considered the issue at a hearing Tuesday.
Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) declared in a statement that the bee decline should be an important part of the current discussion of a new farm bill. "The U.S. honey industry is facing one of the most serious threats ever from colony collapse disorder," he stated. "The bee losses associated with this disorder are staggering and portend equally grave consequences for the producers of crops that rely on honeybees for pollination. These crops include many speciality crops and alfalfa, so viable honey bee colonies are critically important across our entire food and agriculture sector."
Mark Brady, president of the American Honey Producers Association Inc., told the committee that "honey bees pollinate more than 90 food, fiber and seed crops. In particular, the fruits, vegetables and nuts that are cornerstones of a balanced and healthy diet are especially dependent on continued access to honey bee pollination."
Brady went on: "The importance of this pollination to contemporary agriculture cannot be understated. The value of pollinated crops is vastly greater than the total value of honey and wax produced by honey bees. The scale of commercial pollination is also vast. Each year more than 140 billion honey bees representing 2 million colonies are employed by U.S. beekeepers across and around the country to pollinate a wide range of important crops."
He asked Congress to "work closely with beekeepers, agricultural producers, researchers and others on an urgent basis to find the causes of CCD and to develop effective measures to address this new and serious threat."
The strange malady became apparent when beekeepers realized that worker bees were vanishing from their hives. The queen bees and the younger bees were all in place, but the ones that do the work for the highly structured society had disappeared and their bodies were nowhere to be found. "This is what makes the phenomenon so hard. There are no actual dead bees to study," said May Berenbaum, head of the entomology department at the University of Illinois.
In January of this year a national working group was established to determine the cause of the disease. The group includes representatives from government, universities and some private interests, according to Berenbaum.
The group has reported finding a large number of disease organisms in the colonies but no one disease identifiable as the culprit.
Not all parts of the United States have been affected, said Phil Nixon, a professor at the University of Illinois who specializes in pesticide safety. Cases have been reported in several midwestern states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio.
Bees make a lot of honey in the United States. They produced one hundred fifty-five million pounds in 2004, according to the American Honey Producers Association Inc.
More importantly, commercial beekeepers supply bees for the pollination of many agricultural crops. Without pollination, almonds, apples, broccoli, cranberries, strawberries, alfalfa, soybeans, cotton and other plants can't reproduce.
Although CCD is a relatively new phenomenon, a number of pop-theories have developed about the source of the die-off including increased use of cell phones, global warming and the growing of genetically modified crops.
Berenbaum points out that CCD exists in places where cell phones are not used and that Illinois, which grows genetically modified crops and would be as susceptible to global warming as any state, has no reported cases. "Some of the best biologists and researchers in the country are working on the problem, " Berenbaum said.
ARTICLE IS HERE