The CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder ) working group recently published
a report of their finding entitled 'Fall Dwindle Disease: A
preliminary report December 15, 2006'. It can be found at:
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf
Although the group is looking into the sub-lethal effects of
insecticide and insecticide / fungicide interactions through
pesticide residue analysis, they have found at least some indication
that viral and or fungal presence may be at least in part associated
with the collapse.
Peter
Has there been any comment among apple growers in the US on the
continuing sharp decline in bee numbers?
I read the following recently, and believe that a few parts of
Europe are beginning to see localised colony collapses also.
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. In an
article in its business section in late February, the New York Times
calculated the damage US agriculture would suffer if bees died out.
Experts at Cornell University in upstate New York have estimated the
value bees generate -- by pollinating fruit and vegetable plants,
almond trees and animal feed like clover -- at more than $14 billion.
Scientists call the mysterious phenomenon "Colony Collapse Disorder"
(CCD), and it is fast turning into a national catastrophe of sorts.
A number of universities and government agencies have formed a "CCD
Working Group" to search for the causes of the calamity, but have so
far come up empty-handed. But, like Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an
apiarist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, they are
already referring to the problem as a potential "AIDS for the bee
industry."
One thing is certain: Millions of bees have simply vanished. In most
cases, all that's left in the hives are the doomed offspring. But
dead bees are nowhere to be found -- neither in nor anywhere close
to the hives. Diana Cox-Foster, a member of the CCD Working Group,
told The Independent that researchers were "extremely alarmed,"
adding that the crisis "has the potential to devastate the US
beekeeping industry." 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."
In many cases, scientists have found evidence of almost all known
bee viruses in the few surviving bees found in the hives after most
have disappeared. Some had five or six infections at the same time
and were infested with fungi -- a sign, experts say, that the
insects' immune system may have collapsed. The scientists are also
surprised that bees and other insects usually leave the abandoned
hives untouched.
Nearby bee populations or parasites would normally raid the honey
and pollen stores of colonies that have died for other reasons, such
as excessive winter cold. "This suggests that there is something
toxic in the colony itself which is repelling them," says Cox-Foster.
--
Peter J. Jentsch
Extension Associate
Department of Entomology
Cornell University's Hudson Valley Lab
3357 Rt. 9W; PO box 727
Highland, NY 12528
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone 845-691-7151
Mobile: 845-417-7465
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/faculty/jentsch/
