News coverage on CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder):
New York Times. 2007a. Honeybees
vanish, leaving keepers in peril. Feb. 27, 2007, by A. Barrionuevo.
New York Times. 2007b. Losing their
buzz. March 2, 2007, New York Times Op-Ed. By M. Berenbaum.
New York Time.2007c. Beekeepers
Confronted by Demise of Colonies . March 4, 2007. by D.K. Randall
Kalamazoo Gazette. 2007. Mysterious
bee die-off imperils fruit crop. Feb 25, 2007, by R. Parker.
Lansing State Journal. 2007. 'Dwindle
disease' threatens to put sting on Michigan's honeybee hives. Feb 27, 2007,
by C. Rook.
Implication to beekeepers:
Hunt,
G. 2007. What
is colony collapse disorder?
Huang, Z. 2007. CCD and its Impact
on Midwest, A similar version was published on Midwest Beekeeper,
1(2):8.
For most updated info on CCD, please check PSU's
MAAREC web
Quick FAQ on CCD, by Zachary Huang
1. What is CCD anyway?
A:
CCD stands for Colony Collapse Disorder, referring to the recent outbreak of
bees simply "disappearing" out of the hive. Most affected colonies
either have no bees or a few bees with the queen.
2. What causes CCD?
A:
We do not know the exact cause of CCD yet. A team of scientists (the CCD
working group) are working hard on coming up with a correlation.
3. Who are working on the CCD?
A:
here is a list of scientists
and their responsibilities.
4. How many States are affected?
A:
25 States show positive for CCD on this map,
as of March 6, 2007.
5. I just checked my colonies and I lost 80% of them. There was a
cluster of dead bees inside the hive. Am I having CCD?
A: No. CCD usually happens to bees in the fall, or during the winter in warmer
places. If you have a cluster of bees in the hive, then it is not CCD. Either
your bees starved to death (no food left and most bees with heads inside
cells), or the cluster is too small to sustain the cold temperature (which can
be due to many diseases and stresses: American Foulbrood, Varroa mite, tracheal
mite, Nosema). If you had a strong
colony in the fall (say 8 frames of bees), but now only a small cluster of bees
are found in the hive and no dead bees inside the hive, it is possible most of
your bees left the hive and died and this could be related to CCD. But typically CCD strikes colonies
during warmer time and usually leaves a colony with some brood behind. Characteristically, other opportunistic
organisms (small hive beetles, wax moths) do not invade the colony until about
2-3 weeks later.
6. Is CCD that bad, or is it just “media hype”?
A: I
personally believe that this is something real and it is not media hype. Bees are
very important to US agriculture because they pollinate about 1/3 of our crops.
7. Could CCD be caused by Bt transgenic pollen?
A:
There is no evidence that Bt plants can harm honey bees. Bt are specific either
to moths (Lepidoptera), or to beetles (Cleoptera) and usually not effective
against bees, ants, and wasps (Hymenoptera). Only proteinase inhibitor gene products affect honey bees.
8. Could cell phone towers explain the mysterious bee death?
A:
There is no correlation between CCD and cell phone towers, the CCD Working
Group reported that at some areas with no cell phone reception, CCD also occurred.
9. I have read about a Russian ‘Honey Plot’ on the Net, is there any
truth to that?
A: I
have seen the story. Very interesting to read but there is no truth in it.
There is no evidence that our TVs can be used as vehicle to release 250 Hz
electromagnetic fields as a “mind control” measure, and no evidence that
Russian bees are more sensitive than our own bees. Plus, the CCD is not
striking only the Russian bees right now.
There was no correlation between CCD incidents and source of honey bee
queens.
10. I am a fruit grower, should I be panicking about the lack of bees
to pollination my crop?
A:
Do not panic, call around beekeepers early to get your bees. It is best to sign
a pollination contract so that you are covered. Expect a price increase because
of the bee losses. To locate a beekeeper close to you, try the database here.
