Honey bee colony collapse disorder (apis mellifera l.) - possible causes

Bekić, Bojana and Jeločnik, Marko and Subić, Jonel (2014) Honey bee colony collapse disorder (apis mellifera l.) - possible causes. Scientific Papers Series Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, 14 (2). pp. 13-18. ISSN 2284-7995

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Abstract

Honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is the most studied insect pollinator in the world, due to its extremely important role in the plant reproduction. More than 80% of agricultural crops in the world are being pollinated by the honey bee. Prior to appearance of CCD syndrome, i.e. syndrome of Colony Collapse Disorder of honey bee colonies, bees have been disappeared en masse. Since the late 60’s of the XIX century, there were about twenty recorded cases of large honey bee colony loses, caused by various diseases. However, since 2006, the phenomenon never seen before in the world appeared which was called CCD syndrome. The difference between this „disease” and previous cases of honey bee disappearances lies in the fact that there are no dead bees as evidence of disease. Beekeepers find empty, abandoned hives with only queen bee, brood and very small number of adult workers, where the largest part of worker bees had left the colony. There is a lot of food, honey and pollen, left in the hive. Mentioned syndrome was firstly appeared in the USA, where, for only one week, certain number of large beekeepers reported losses of 50- 90% of their bee colonies. Soon, syndrome was noticed in Europe, where in many countries larger disappearance of honey bees were reported. Exact cause of CCD syndrome appearance is not known, but assumptions include individual impact of more factors or, more likely, their synergistic effect. Hypothesis related to causes of mentioned syndrome include the impact of traditional honey bee diseases caused by varroa mites and other parasites, excessive pesticides consumption in agricultural production, genetically modified organisms, electromagnetic radiation, poor honey bee nutrition, crops growing in monoculture and biodiversity loss. Nowadays, a number of researchers think that it is a synergy of many factors, so that the bees as a bio-indicator reflect current state of environment in the world. Economic estimations of damages caused by potential disappearance of this species count billions dollar, where the consequences do not consider just monetary loss, but the impact on agro food safety of the world population.

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