I found this article interesting regarding CCD: The solution to the Collapse Colony Disorder (CCD), a phenomenon that has baffled beekeepers and researchers in America and Europe, may just be found in Africa.
Characterised by the sudden mass exodus of bees from their hives, CCD was first reported in America in November 2006, and has rapidly spread to over 20 American States. Some CCD cases have also been reported in Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. CCD is increasingly becoming a crisis, causing beekeepers losses of between 30 ? 90% and posing a potential threat in European agriculture, where honeybees are of great economic importance. A study by scientists from the Nairobi-headquartered icipe ? African Insect Science for Food and Health, conducted jointly with colleagues from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), suggests that there could be a link between microganisms from invasive species, such as the small hive beetle, recently introduced into the US from Africa. In their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS, 4 May 2007), the researchers observe that, though of no consequence to African honeybees, the small hive beetle decimates European honeybee colonies with impunity through a fungus that it carries. ?Beetles are scavengers and their job is to clean up. In the case of the small hive beetle, it uses a fungus to digest left-over pollen, from which it gets its nutrients. This fungus causes fermentation, in effect causing a change in the chemistry in the hives. Since bees are very sensitive to such variations, they eventually abandon the hives,? explains icipe scientist, Dr Baldwyn Torto. He adds that African honeybees are generally highly hygienic; they don?t allow debris to accumulate in their hives, so there is little for the small hive beetles to scavenge and to support growth and establishment of other microorganisms. In addition, because of having to constantly deal with a wide diversity of tropical microorganisms while foraging, the African honeybees have evolved ways to fight diseases more effectively, and respond more quickly to any new challenges. On the other hand, says Dr Torto, European honeybees unlike their African cousins are unable to effectively inhibit infestations by this beetle. ?Knowing what allows African honeybees to survive attacks under the tough tropical conditions, and introducing these components into European honeybees, might be a step towards resolving the CCD,? says Dr Torto. Seed Quest / 11 May 2007 / Copyright: Seed Quest Dan DiGiacomandrea Bayer CropScience 68 Chadwick Manor Fairport, NY 14450 585-330-3263 Fax 585-425-8774 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.bayercropscienceus.com/rep/~dan.digiacomandrea "Con.Traas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent by: <apple-crop@virtualorchard.net> 05/15/2007 07:36 AM Please respond to "Apple-Crop" <apple-crop@virtualorchard.net> To "Apple-Crop" <apple-crop@virtualorchard.net> cc Subject Apple-Crop: Re: BEES & COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER Hello all, I certainly tend to agree with Dave. As realists we need to begin from where we now find ourselves, and plot a safe route forward. In answer to Philip's question: "Are you suggesting the possibility of Frankenbees... I can see an issue with bees spreading pollen from GM crops to non-GM crops, but I don't see what effect it would have on the bees, themselves", I think there may be some issues. As of yet, it is difficult to find scientific publications that highlight potential problems, but that is the nature of science, as it reports what we see or understand, and wild speculation does not form part of what is reported in the scientific literature. One report that I did come across related to bumble bees, and the work was conducted by Dirk Babendreier, a scientist who has quite a few publications in relation to bees. In the particular publication, three transgenic products were fed to colonies of bumblebees, along with sugar solution and floral pollen, and controls were also used. The Bt-toxin (Cry1Ab) was not found to effect bumblebees. However, the consumption of SBTI and GNA (the products of two different types of GM soya) caused colony performance to suffer. It was reported that GNA at a high concentration was especially harmful for bumblebees as they were not able to rear any offspring in this treatment. Now I am happy to accept that this is only one report, and that more needs to be known before we come to the conclusion that GM crops are harmful to bees. However, this does demonstrate that GM crops have the potential to be harmful to bees, and that the toxins that we deliberately want GM crops to produce, may have harmful side-effects on non-target organisms such as bees. There are other issues that it might be interesting to speculate about (such as what if bacteria in the digestive system of a bee adopted a gene from the pollen that the bee is consuming; for instance a gene that codes for the production of an insecticide; could the bacteria in the bee poison it?). The possibility of this happening has been demonstrated by the adoption of genetic information from GM plants into the gut bacteria of humans. It does not raise the possibility of Frankenbees, but it does raise the possibility of bees with Franken bacteria in their systems. It seems to me that prudence would dictate that we should move forward with caution. I do not suspect that colony collapse disorder is related to GM crops, as it seems to also occur in countries where few GM crops are grown. As usual, (and as the Steiner quote earlier implies), there is more unknown than known. Con Traas The Apple Farm -----Original Message----- From: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dave Rosenberger Sent: 15 May 2007 04:15 To: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net Subject: Apple-Crop: Re: BEES & COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER The only way to avoid "possible negative ramifications of man's meddling with the natural order of things" would be for us to revert to a hunter-gatherer social structure, and even that would have its impacts! All of agriculture including organic agriculture has negative impacts if one defines negative as being anything other than an untouched ecosystem. And if that is not where the line should be drawn, then who gets to decide where in fact the line does get drawn? Concerning bee activity, we have about 20 acres of research orchards at the Hudson Valley Lab and we have never brought in bees for pollination, nor am I aware of any neighbors within a quarter mile who keep bees. We still seem to get plenty of wild bees and other kinds of pollinators coming out of the woods that surround our orchards, although the honeybee population dropped off dramatically several years ago when the mite problems were killing both domestic and wild bees. This year, we had more honeybee activity than I have seen in many years. My point is that domesticated honeybees tended by beekeepers are not the only source of honeybee pollinators (or is it pollenizers? I can never remember). Managed hives are undoubtedly important on large farms, in areas where crops are grown in artificial climates (i.e., irrigated deserts), or in regions where agriculture has removed all of the natural habitat for wild bees. Nevertheless, my experience in watching bees suggests that wild bees would be around for many years even if all of the beekeepers suddenly collapsed over night. I suppose the possibility of Frankenbees exists and I would to hear from an expert about all the possible negative ramifications of mans medalling with the natural order of things. Jim Friedler -----Original Message----- From: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Philip Smith Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 11:13 AM To: Apple-Crop Subject: Re: Apple-Crop: Re: BEES & COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER Are you suggesting the possibility of Frankenbees? I can see an issue with bees spreading pollen from GM crops to non-GM crops, but I don't see what effect it would have on the bees, themselves. -- ************************************************************** Dave Rosenberger Professor of Plant Pathology Office: 845-691-7231 Cornell University's Hudson Valley Lab Fax: 845-691-2719 P.O. Box 727, Highland, NY 12528 Cell: 845-594-3060 http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pp/faculty/rosenberger/ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ The information contained in this e-mail is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s) and may be confidential, proprietary, and/or legally privileged. Inadvertent disclosure of this message does not constitute a waiver of any privilege. If you receive this message in error, please do not directly or indirectly use, print, copy, forward, or disclose any part of this message. Please also delete this e-mail and all copies and notify the sender. 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