Colony Collapse Disorder: As Goes The Honey Bees, So Goes The Human Race

Honey bees have been dying out for the past couple of decades due to Colony Collapse Disorder as well as the so called normal maladies that face bees in the forms of parasites and pests such as Varroa and Tracheal Mites, Small Hive Beetles (SHB) and Wax Moths; as well as diseases such as Nosema, American Foulbrood (AFB), European Foulbrood (EFB), Chalk brood, Stone brood, Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV or APV), Israel Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV), Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV), Chronic Paralysis Virus (CPV), Cloudy Wing Virus (DWV), Sac brood (SBV) and other problems such as widespread pesticide use, the reduction of forage area, or Chilled Brood (chilled brood is a problem but not a disease). All these problems have compounded to the point that honey bees can no longer reproduce colonies faster than they are being killed off.

Despite all the bad news, good strides have been taken recently to slow the decline. For one thing, the EPA will be lifting the restrictions against using formic acid as a pesticide against varroa mites starting in 2010. This will give beekeepers a new tool in their arsenal that the varroa mites have no current resistance to. For another thing, scientists have recently found attractants for varroa mites that are so heady to them that they will detach from their hosts to pursue it, which opens up a whole world of bait traps. As you may be aware, varroa mites have been a major cause of colony loss for beekeepers for the past few decades. In addition, an Israeli company recently made a breakthrough in vaccinating bees against the Israel Acute Paralysis Virus, although it will still be a few years before their product makes it to market.

In addition to the strides being made toward helping beekeepers deal with varroa mites, there is also the work being done to educate the public to both the necessity and plight of honey bees. The majority of the public now knows that honey bees are responsible for approximately 1/3rd of the total food supply through their pollination efforts, as well as being vital to the cotton textile industry; so it’s very important to keep honey bees around. This is leading more people to call beekeepers when a swarm of honey bees land in their yards rather than simply spraying them with pesticides. It’s also causing many people to make use of plants that are useful to bees in their landscaping.

Together, these efforts are vastly improving the outlook of honey bees; but in the meantime to make up for the loss of colonies here in the US, more than 20% of all US honey bees are now imported yearly from Australia where they do not yet have varroa mites. Starting in February, over 500,000 colonies of honey bees begin arriving at the San Francisco International Airport where they will either be picked up by, or domestically shipped to beekeepers that arrive in droves for California almond pollination season.

So it seems that for now at least, honey bees are not in immediate danger of going extinct in the U.S., but it’s a catch 22, because the only reason the decline has stabilized is that people have been worried enough to take steps to help the bees. When the action stops, the bees will start sliding into decline once more. So we must remain vigilant, for as Albert Einstein once said, if honey bees go extinct, society will follow within four years.