Question

1. List possible causes of CCD that Mark, Dave, and Tanya were discussing and briefly describe how each can contribute to honeybee health:

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

2. Do you think genetically modified (GM) crops could contribute to symptoms of CCD? Explain.
3. What changes in agricultural practices could improve the environments of the honeybees?
5. What actions could the general population take to support the health of honeybees and other pollinators?

Answer 1

Ans:-Colony Collapse Disorder is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen. Once thought to pose a major long term threat to bees, reported cases of CCD have declined substantially over the last five years. The number of hives that do not survive over the winter months – the overall indicator for bee health – has maintained an average of about 28.7 percent since 2006-2007 but dropped to 23.1 percent for the 2014-2015 winter.

Dead Bees don’t Necessarily Mean CCD

Certain pesticides are harmful to bees. That’s why we require instructions for protecting bees on the labels of pesticides that are known to be particularly harmful to bees. This is one of many reasons why everyone must read and follow pesticide label instructions. When most or all of the bees in a hive are killed by overexposure to a pesticide, we call that a beekill incident resulting from acute pesticide poisoning. But acute pesticide poisoning of a hive is very different from CCD and is almost always avoidable.

There have been several incidents of acute poisoning of honey bees covered in the popular media in recent years, but sometimes these incidents are mistakenly associated with CCD. A common element of acute pesticide poisoning of bees is, literally, a pile of dead bees outside the hive entrance. With CCD, there are very few if any dead bees near the hive. Piles of dead bees are an indication that the incident is not colony collapse disorder. Indeed, heavily diseased colonies can also exhibit large numbers of dead bees near the hive.

Why It's Happening

There have been many theories about the cause of CCD, but the researchers who are leading the effort to find out why are now focused on these factors:

• Increased losses due to the invasive varroa mite (a pest of honey bees).
• New or emerging diseases such as Israeli Acute Paralysis virus and the gut parasite Nosema.
• Pesticide poisoning through exposure to pesticides applied to crops or for in-hive insect or mite control.
• Stress bees experience due to management practices such as transportation to multiple locations across the country for providing pollination services.
• Changes to the habitat where bees forage.
• Inadequate forage/poor nutrition.
• Potential immune-suppressing stress on bees caused by one or a combination of factors i
• dentified above.

Countless theories have been made about the possible causes of CCD, but researchers and analysts have narrowed it down to a few likely possible causes. First, pesticides — while they do play a role in protecting crops from harmful insects and disease, some scientists fear they’re working a little too well. Pesticide exposure can be deadly, not just for honey bees, but for the majority of animals. When a honey bee pollinates a plant sprayed with pesticides, it can easily be contaminated and poison other bees at the hive.

According to the EPA, there have been many theories about the cause of CCD, but the researchers who are leading the effort to find out why are now focused on these factors:

• Increased losses due to the invasive varroa mite (a pest of honey bees).
• New or emerging diseases such as Israeli Acute Paralysis virus and the gut parasite Nosema.
• Pesticide poisoning through exposure to pesticides applied to crops or for in-hive insect or mite control.
• Stress bees experience due to management practices such as transportation to multiple locations across the country for providing pollination services.
• Changes to the habitat where bees forage.
• Inadequate forage/poor nutrition.
• Potential immune-suppressing stress on bees caused by one or a combination of factors identified above.