Do you wonder what you're going to be when you grow up? Maybe you'll be an astronaut, or a policeman. Maybe you can be a scientist. You better hurry, though.
Albert Einstein once estimated that “If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years.” Scientists are predicting that honeybees will be extinct in the US by 2035 due to Colony Collapse Disorder.
Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or Western honey bee colony abruptly disappear. Witnesses have reported that the bees that remained in the hive were, "stumbling drunkenly, and barely moving." Beginning in late 2006, beekeepers began reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives. Although Scientists are still unable to determine the exact cause of CCD, they estimate is may be a combination of several factors. Pesticide use, pathogens or parasites, and even stress. Varroa mites are a huge threat to bee health and are immune to most common pesticides. Migratory stress brought about by increased needs for pollination may cause collapse within a colony. Migratory stress is a new issue for beekeepers and bees alike. Due to the significant drop in honeybee populations, mobile hives have been created and beekeepers are now driving across the U.S. to provide pollination services The University of Illinois has recently finished a study which may point to a genetic issue within the infected bees which causes a weakened immune system, similar to HIV and AIDS.
No matter the cause, we as the public must be made aware of this issue which effects us with much greater risk than greenhouse gasses. If flowers are not pollinated, plants do not bear fruit. No more apples, pears, peaches, green beans, broccoli, raspberries, blackberries of blueberries. This is not just an issue in the United States. In the United Kingdom, bee losses are averaging around 33% annually and are predicted to be extinct there in less than 10 years. There was a time when bees, nature and humans all lived in balance. The ignorance of the human race will be its downfall. We must do something now. Each person must, at the very least, be made aware of CCD and how it will affect all of us. This is not a story that gets reported on, then placed in the filing cabinet of old news. This is still affecting us, and will be affecting us, for years to come.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009, August 25). Genomic Study Yields Plausible Cause Of Colony Collapse Disorder. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 13, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/08/090824151256.htm
