Colony Collapse Disorder

The phenomena known as colony collapse disorder (CCD) have been documented for many years and it seems to have first been noticed during the mid nineteenth century. Over the past few decades, however, their occurrence has increased in unprecedented rates to such an extent that many governments, especially in Europe and North America, have started taking steps to ensure that the situation is remedied. The CCD is a condition where the entire population of bees in a hive die off as a result of varying factors, both known and unknown and this occurs with devastating effects to the ecological system (Hamzelou, 2007, 639). However, while the factors which cause this syndrome have been speculated upon for many years, there is yet to be a conclusive answer to the question of what is the cause of these disappearances. While this may be the case, ongoing research into the matter has come to show that there is a possible connection between the use of a diverse number of pesticides by farmers which may have a negative effect on bees because they cause their deaths. It is a fact that when the CCD takes place, scientists and bee farmers are never able to determine the cause of this disorder because of the fact that their occurrences tend to be so slow that they are barely noticed until it is too late. Because of this, it has become imperative that beehives in all the countries that are affected to be kept under constant observation so that the exact cause of the problem can be determined and in the process remedied.

While it is a fact that the exact cause of CCD is not known, among the biggest suspects that have come to public notice has been the use of pesticides, which are believed to be contributing factors to the problem. Scientists have, for quite some time, supposed that the use of pesticides and possibly some fungicides may have been of lethal effect on bees, not killing them immediately but instead weakening their development and behaviour (Watanabe, 2009, 1010). Among the pesticides which have been of most interest to scientists studying CCD occurrences are the insecticides known as neonicoticoids, which contain chemicals that may have a negative effect on bees. These chemicals tend to be used in seed treatment in the process, they tend to work their way up through the plant into the latter’s flowers where they end up occurring in the nectar. As a result of the bees consuming the nectar containing chemicals from neonicoticoids over a long period of time, these chemicals, while not instantly lethal, may have other adverse effects on the bee population consuming them. It has been found that almost all the corn in the United States that has been genetically engineered contains some form of neonicoticoids, since the latter are used in their treatment. In addition to this, it has been found that these types of insecticides tend to occur in the soil of the fields near where the genetically modified corn has been planted (Vaughan & Black, 2008, 80). It has, therefore, been speculated that these forms of insecticides may get consumed by bees indirectly through the plants which occur in such fields and this may, in fact, be a major cause of the CCD occurrence in bee populations.

Scientists researching CCD have speculated that the use of antibiotics and miticides may have an effect on the sudden disappearances of bee populations. Research concerning this idea has been conducted extensively and many beekeepers who have been affected by CCD that have been interviewed have stated that they indeed make use of antibiotics and miticides among their bee colonies. The results of these investigations by scientists have, however, not been conclusive because of the fact that it is not known what specific antibiotics or miticides that are used may be the cause of the problem (Watanabe, 2008, 384). The use of such chemicals has not been determined to be a definite cause of CCD because there tends to be a lack of uniformity concerning exactly what particular chemicals are used by beekeepers, hence doubts have been cast about whether only one or a combination of antibiotics and miticides are responsible for the occurrence of CCD in bee colonies. The fact that a majority of the chemicals contained in antibiotics and miticides have yet to be tested to determine whether they have any negative effect on bees and this has contributed to the lack of credibility concerning whether these two groups of chemicals are indeed responsible for the development of CCD (Lago, 2012, 1678). While this may be the case, the widespread use of these chemicals by beekeepers makes them have a huge potential of being the cause of CCD and it has not become necessary for scientists to take the initiative in determining whether the diverse number of antibiotics and miticides used may have an effect on the the development of this condition in bees.

Most of the focal point concerning the causes of CCD has been given to the potential environmental causes of these phenomena. One would suggest that the development of CCD has taken place because of the increased commercialisation of beekeeping which has prevented bees from breeding freely. This may have created a situation where the bees which have developed lack genetic diversity which causes them to become susceptible to diseases and other genetic conditions that are potentially harmful to the colony. As a result of the weakening of the genetic makeup of bees, the potential of their being wiped out in case of disease becomes extremely high. This leads to the decimation of the bee population which not only affects these creatures, but also the entire ecosystem that depends on them to help in the process of pollination. It can therefore be said that while there may be many suspects on the causes of CCD, only more research concerning this phenomena can reveal the exact causes. This research has to be conducted urgently because whole ecosystems, as well as farmers, depend on bees to ensure the successful production of food to feed the billions of people all over the world.