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Where have all the bees gone?
 

Adrienne Beattie

 

Albert Einstein is believed to have warned, “If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” It is both a frightening prospect and a wise reflection on the interconnectedness of our species to all other forms of life on Earth.
In North America, about one-third of our diet is tied to honey bees; they provide the necessary pollination of much of our produce and nuts, as well as food consumed by livestock. In Canada, this pollination service is worth over $1 billion, according to the Canadian Honey Council. The Prairies are responsible for 80 percent of the country’s honey production and in Alberta, 50,000 colonies are vital to canola seed production.
A bizarre phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is sweeping across the US and posing a serious threat to these interdependent relationships. With alarmingly high bee losses reported across many provinces, it is suspected the disorder has infiltrated Canadian hives too. CCD is characterized by the disappearance of adult bees in a colony with little or no evidence to indicate where the bees have gone.
According to John Gibeau, president of the BC Honey Producers Association, up to 80 percent of the bees that over-wintered in BC last year were lost. Similar loses have shown up in parts of Ontario, the Prairies and the Maritimes. In the US, beekeepers in California, Florida and Texas have experienced the greatest losses – up to 90 percent of their bees.
A number of CCD working groups have been established and several top universities and government agencies throughout North America are working to address this crisis. While theories abound about the possible causes of CCD, a consensus has not yet formed.

Theories

Electromagnetic/cell phone radiation: A German study out of Landau University provides preliminary evidence that radiation from cellular phones interferes with bees’ navigation systems, preventing them from finding their way back to their hives. This complements previous research indicating that bee behaviour may be disturbed by power lines.
Genetically modified crops: Last year, the United States National Research Council stated that there could be “… sublethal effects attributable to the consumption of transgenic pollens,” hypothesizing that gathering pollen and nectar from genetically modified crops which produce the insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) may weaken bees. German research also indicates exposure to maize pollen containing genes for Bt production could weaken an adult bee’s defence against certain parasites.
Pesticides: Perhaps the most compelling evidence to date suggests that pesticide use is largely responsible for CCD. Most pesticides are known to be highly toxic to bees, a warning which is stated on product labels. May Berenbaum, head of the entomology department at the University of Illinois, believes some pesticides are causing bees to forget their way home. “There are some neurotoxic insecticides that can interfere with honeybee memory and that might be manifested in disruption of their orientation and navigation abilities, Berenbaum states.
Neonicotinoids, introduced in the 1990s, impair bees’ memory, navigation, feeding behaviour and motor activity. Interestingly, while conventional beekeepers have reported mass bee die-offs, organic beekeepers are not suffering the same losses. Sharon Labchuk, an organic beekeeper from P.E.I. hasn’t seen any.
“I’m on an organic beekeeping email list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world is reporting colony collapse on this list.” Labchuk reveals.
Factory-farmed bees: While the public is becoming more aware of factory farming practices among hog and poultry farmers, many are unaware of similar approaches within apiculture. The western honey bee, Apis mellifera, has been used as a monoculture. This single species is now the world’s dominant, managed pollinator.
In an address to the U.S. House of Representatives by the Committee on the Status of Pollinators in North America, Berenbaum, chair of the committee, noted, “Honey bees are, in effect, six-legged livestock that both manufacture agricultural commodities – honey and wax – and, more importantly, contribute agricultural services: pollination.”
Berenbaum estimated that if honey bee numbers continue to decline at the rates documented since 1989, managed honey bees will cease to exist by 2035.
“It is an unfortunate consequence of benign indifference to the precarious nature of an overwhelming reliance on a single species that few alternative actively-managed species are currently available for use,” Berenbaum explains. “And despite evidence of their efficacy as crop pollinators, wild species are not being exploited to any significant extent.”
Indeed, the western honey bee is not native to the western hemisphere and pollination has been historically performed by native bees. There are approximately 20,000 species of bees. Ants, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies, flies, various birds, plants, wind and water are also capable of certain kinds of pollination.
Currently, though, intensive farming practices exploit the honey bee. According to Brent Halsall, president of the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association, honey bees just make sense. “It’s real efficient, real inexpensive and it works.” Commercial beekeepers in the US transport colonies great distances between states to provide pollination services to various seasonal crops. This practice is known to cause great stress to bees. Dr. Peter Kevan, an associate professor of environmental biology at the University of Guelph notes that confinement, temperature fluctuations and mechanical vibrations during transport are also stressful to bees. Transportation of bees in Canada is limited due to our shorter growing season.
Pathogens: Accidentally introduced in the 1980s, the varroa mite is one nasty pest. It attacks bee populations by infecting the chambers where larvae are developing. The mites then feed on their blood. It is generally agreed that the varroa mite is a contributing factor in CCD, however, Canadian authorities do not believe they are the sole cause of the recent die-offs.
Dr. Peter Teel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chemistry research unit in Gainesville, Florida, is researching the small hive beetle and how it is causing bees to abandon their hives. About nine years ago, the beetle was accidentally brought in from Africa, where it is not a problem because bees are not managed there. Here, on the other hand, the beetle is a destructive parasite, entering the hive where it defecates and reproduces. The yeast from the beetle poop releases a pheromone that attracts the bees, but with the hives overrun by additional bees and beetles, all the bees soon flee the hive.
Climate change: The majority of apiarists agree that unusual weather has had an adverse effect on bees. In the US and in parts of Canada, an unusually warm winter last year is thought to have disturbed the bees’ sensitive breeding cycle, causing them to accelerate the development of larvae just before an unexpected cold spell hit. The winter was also warmer and wetter than average in B.C. Meanwhile, cold temperatures and snow in April prevented Canadian beekeepers from unwrapping their colonies.

Solutions

Calls are unanimous to increase monitoring efforts for both wild and managed pollinators. Additionally, beekeepers are being advised to reduce pesticide use to an absolute minimum. Dr. Teel believes beekeepers need to keep their hives clean and manage their hives well in order to prevent stress-related attacks from parasites and pathogens. Others are looking to increased use of antibiotics to control viruses.
Organic beekeepers like Labchuck believe the intensive, conventional beekeeping conditions, combined with other environmental stresses are straining colonies too much. “In an organic Canada, native pollinators would flourish and small diversified farms would keep their own natural bees for pollination and local honey sales.”

What you can do about CCD
Support the organic industry and purchase organic foods. This helps to eliminate hazardous pesticides, genetically modified organisms and factory farming techniques. Help native pollinators. Learn how to create a bee garden in your backyard. Google “create a bee garden” to find many online sources.

Adrienne Beattie writes on environmental and social issues, and works at Community Natural Foods, a locally- owned and operated natural health food store in Calgary.

 

 
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