This syndrome, named Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD, is characterized by the disappearance of adult honey bees from the hive, leaving the newborns to fend for themselves. During the winter of 2006, some beekeepers reported losing 30-90 percent of their hives. So far CCD has been reported in thirty-six states around the country and also in Europe. According to the USDA, the direct value of honeybee pollination to U. S. agriculture is more than $15 billion dollars.
Researchers globally are still trying to pin down the cause or causes of this mysterious ailment. Most entomologists agree that a combination of factors are involved: exposure to pesticides, genetically modified crops, disruption of habitat, water pollution, climate change, the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, the Varroa mite and literally trucking bee hives around the world to pollinate crops.
The good news is 75% of US beekeepers have actually never noticed a problem with their hives. Among the remaining 25% who have reported some apparent CCD like symptoms, the severity of the problem has ranged anywhere from a slight reduction in the number of workers to complete collapse of the hive. Many of these apiary operations have been through CCD and recovered, which suggests that resistance may be growing within the bee population.
Why Should We Care So Much about the Bees?
We should care deeply about the disappearing honey bee if we like to eat food. As honeybees (Apis mellifera) gather nectar to produce honey, they pollinate agricultural crops, home gardens, orchards and wildlife habitat. As they travel from blossom to blossom in search of nectar, pollen (male sperm) sticks to their furry body and is transferred to another flowering blossom enabling it to swell into a ripened fruit. Almonds, apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, watermelon and many other best-selling crops all rely on honey bees for pollination.
It’s estimated that about one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants and three-quarters of all plants on the planet depend on insects or animals for pollination. Honeybees have been pollinating flowers for over a100 million years.
Researchers globally are documenting declining numbers of other pollinators as well; native bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and wasps. Home gardeners can easily invite pollinators back to their yards.
Here are a Few Simple Steps to a Bee Friendly Garden:
- Go organic. Avoid the use of pesticides. (Information on environmentally friendlier garden products is available at www.ourwaterourworld.org)
- Leave some small sunny areas of soil mulch-free as habitat for ground-nesting, native bees.
- Install bee-nesting blocks available at garden nurseries.
- Plant less or smaller lawns.
- Aim forcontinuous bloom. For spring bloomers, plant: Aster, Borage, Forget-Me-Not,Wild lilac, Coreopsis, Clarkia, California poppy, Penstemon, Phacelia,Tansy, Tidytips, Coffeeberry and Salvia. For summer bloomers, try Agastache, Bergamot, Black-eyed Susan, Checkerbloom, Cleome, Cosmos, Coneflower, Buckwheat, Gaillardia, Lavender, Lilac, Sunflower, Rosemary, Scabiosa, Yarrow and Verbena.
- Support local beekeepers and organic farmers at your local Farmer’s Market.
- To learn more about the mystery of the honeybee, order the extraordinary PBS documentary, “Silence of the Bees” produced by Partisan Pictures and WNET, New York.
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