Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is characterized by the sudden die-off of honey bee colonies. The cause of CCD has not been

determined, and the Subcommittee heard about the situation and its impact on agriculture from scientists and bee keepers, as well as

a farmer who relies on bees to pollinate his crops.

"I am deeply committed to raising awareness of CCD and its impact on American agriculture," said Subcommittee Chairman Cardoza.

Talk of the Nation, March 9, 2007 · Recently in more than 20 states, beekeepers are opening their hives to find the bees gone. While bee populations in the U.S. have been suffering in recent years from a variety of threats, this sudden disappearance of bees from hives across the country has caught many beekeepers off guard, with no clear explanations.

Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?

Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees

By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross
Published: 15 April 2007

It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.

They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.[continued]

Bee researchers say fungus may play role in disappearances
By JIA-RUI CHONG and THOMAS H. MAUGH II The Los Angeles Times

A fungus that caused widespread loss of bee colonies in Europe and Asia may be playing a crucial role in the mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder that is now wiping out bees across the U.S., University of California, San Francisco researchers said Wednesday...

But the results are “highly preliminary” and are from only a few hives from Le Grand in California’s Merced County, UCSF biochemist Joe DeRisi said. “We don’t want to give anybody the impression that this thing has been solved.”

Others said Wednesday that they too had found the fungus, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, in hives from around the country. They also have found two other fungi and six viruses in dead bees.[continued]

Originally Posted by edward

...Many insects have become resistant to Imidacloprid since it was introduced to this country 11 years ago. I would suggest that either the concentration of Imidacloprid has been increased or some new systemic product has replaced it...

Science Daily — A team led by scientists from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Pennsylvania State University, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Arizona, and 454 Life Sciences has found a significant connection between the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and colony collapse disorder (CCD) in honey bees.

The findings, an important step in addressing the disorder that is decimating bee colonies across the country, are published in the journal Science.

In colony collapse disorder, honey bee colonies inexplicably lose all of their worker bees. CCD has resulted in a loss of 50-90% of colonies in beekeeping operations across the U.S. The consortium of scientists who have been studying the role of infection in this phenomenon includes Diana Cox-Foster, professor in the Department of Entomology at Pennsylvania State University, Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Jeffery Pettis, research leader of the ARS Bee Research Laboratory, and Nancy Moran, Professor at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Ian Lipkin, MD, professor of Epidemiology, Neurology, and Pathology at Columbia, and his team at the Mailman School's Center for Infection and Immunity, together with a team at 454 Life Sciences, used revolutionary genetic technologies, to survey microflora of CCD hives, normal hives, and imported royal jelly. Candidate pathogens were screened for significance of association with CCD by examining samples collected by the USDA and Penn State from several sites over a period of three years.

Using the 454 Life Sciences high-throughput DNA sequencing platform, and analytical methods developed at Columbia, Dr. Lipkin's team searched for footprints of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites in thousands of sequences. Candidates were further characterized by more detailed sequence analysis to ascertain their specificity for CCD and relationship to known and unknown pathogens.

IAPV, an unclassified dicistrovirus not previously reported in the U.S. that is transmitted by the varroa mite, and Kasmir bee virus were only found in CCD hives. The researchers report that IAPV was found in all four affected operations sampled, in two of four royal jelly samples, and in the Australian sample. KBV was present in three of four CCD operations, but not in the royal jelly. One organism was significantly correlated with CCD: finding IAPV in a bee sample correctly distinguished CCD from non-CCD status 96.1 percent of the time.

. . . .

(CNN) -- A virus found in healthy Australian honey bees may be playing a role in the collapse of honey bee colonies across the United States, researchers reported Thursday.