What is Bee Colony Collapse Disorder?

Simply put Bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the sudden and inexplicable deaths of up to 60% or 70% of bees in a hive. As the mysterious bee deaths mount across the country many bee keepers are going out of business, farmers face the possibility of unpollinated and unproductive crops, and shoppers will be dealing with sharply rising prices and shortages of some food items.

What makes the mounting crisis so difficult for bee experts to get a handle on is the bizarre and unusual way that CCD behaves, its unlike any other bee plague in recorded history. The bees often simply vanish without a trace, they leave the hive and never come back. There is no evidence of a bacterial or fungal infection, and while there have been many viruses found in affected hives so far there is no virus that all the crippled hives share in common.

Bees play a critical role in modern agriculture as they are responsible for pollinating many crops across the nation such as apples, almonds, berries like strawberries blueberries and cranberries, peaches, prunes, cabbage, sunflower, and even the cotton crop to name a few. If too many bees die that means these crops do not get pollinated, and that means prices rise dramatically and you may simply see many of these items disappear from the grocery store shelves.

Theories about the cause of CCD include pesticides, genetically modified crops, a new virus, breeding practices of bee keepers, and the possibility that it could a combination of all of the above.

The fact that congress has largely reneged on its promise to provide funding to help research the problem has left bee researchers with limited resources and strapped for cash and resources. This has not stopped them from forming an alliance of bee researchers in both the public and private sector that is dedicated to sleuthing out the cause of CCD and saving the hives before it is too late. This group has come to be called the Bee Working Group and consists of etymologists and bee experts in the USDA, Penn State University, Columbia University and North Carolina State.

The job the Bee Working Group has set before itself is daunting - with limited resources and funding they must solve the mystery behind the most unusual malady to strike bee populations in recorded history, create an antidote and/or fashion an action plan that resolves the crisis, and do so before the bee deaths wreak havoc on the nations food supply.

Next time: Why should you care if the bees are dying?