Whats going on with all the bees disappearing?
There are many reasons for bees disappearing and Colony Collapse Disorder is more of a phenomenon than an explanation.
Destruction of habitat is a big problem. Monarch butterflies and other wild creatures are effected by this as well. Monoculture in farming has resulted in less available food and habitat for the bees; as has the urban sprawl.
Pesticides have also had and impact. Neonics are the current focus of environmentalists, but many pesticides have contributed to bee decline; including those used in organic farming. I say this as a nursery grower, so I have no ill intent towards farmers. Pesticides are designed to kill insects, and you don’t always get to pick which ones. Indirect poisoning from pesticides can confuse the bees and make it difficult for them to return to their hives.
Moving bees around the nation for crop pollination can be hard on the bees as well. This is common practice for many bee keepers.
Even gardening can be detrimental to bee habitat, as certain types of bees only dwell in exposed, undisturbed soil.
The parasitic Varroa mite has been extremely harmful to bees, and many bee keepers believe it to be the biggest threat.
The best way to protect the bees is to plant lots of native, bee-friendly plants and grow them without the use of pesticides. Marla Spivak, a renowned bee expert, told me that bees can recover from minor poisonings and other stress factors more quickly when they have a wide array of food sources available to them. Staggering bloom times within the garden ensures that they have multiple sources of food and pollen throughout the season. Native plants are generally the best bet, as they have not been genetically manipulated for ornamental reasons.
We call it Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and – although we are not entirely sure about it – it appears to be caused by a virus. There have been instances of beekeepers losing up to half of their colonies. The problem has been reported by beekeepers in Texas, but many of us have not been effected at all. Some of the wild speculation early on (about how all the bees were going to die and we would run out of food) was just that: wild speculation.
