Bee colon destruction syndrome

Colony destruction syndrome was first described in 2006 in the USA ^[2] when a peak of the phenomenon was observed ^[6] . According to the World Bee Protection Fund , 30–35% of bee colonies die out every winter in the United States . Since 1961, the number of American bees has halved, and the number of bees per hectare has been reduced by 90% .

Subsequently, the same began to be observed in several European countries : in Belgium , Bulgaria , France , the Netherlands , Greece ^[2] , Italy , Portugal and Spain ^[7] and to a lesser extent in Switzerland and Germany ^[8] . In Northern Ireland , a double decline in the bee population was reported in 2009 ^[9] . In Europe as a whole, 20% of bee families are lost each year, a similar trend is beginning to be seen in Latin America and Asia (possible cases of the syndrome in Taiwan are reported ^[10] ).

The reasons for this phenomenon have not yet been fully elucidated, however, opinions are expressed that it can be caused by the influence of biotic environmental factors, human economic activity, and a combination of these and other factors.

Among the biotic factors, varroatosis (a parasitic disease of honey bees) and a number of diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms are primarily included ^{[11] [12] [13]} . Mites of Varroa , having infiltrated the hive, infect bees and their offspring. In Europe, ticks were brought to Europe in the 60s of the 20th century by scientists from China and India, along with the wild Indian bee Apis cerana indica , on which the tick parasitizes in the wild. Since the 1980s, each of the apiaries in Eurasia can be considered a priori infected with a tick of Varroa. To date, a number of tick populations have adapted to systemic acaricides used to kill it. On the other hand, after treating the hives with insecticides, honey cannot be sold, therefore, anti-varroatosis treatments cannot be carried out systematically throughout the entire honey collection season.

Among the other determining causes are the change in environmental conditions ^[14] , lack of food and pesticides (for example, imidacloprid ) ^[15] . Since the majority of dead bees are found in the fields (only a few of them are able to fly to the hive and die there already), there is good reason to suspect the poisoning of bees with chemicals used by unscrupulous agricultural producers to process the fields (especially rapeseed ).

Attempts have been made to associate the syndrome with the cultivation of GM plants ^{[16] [17]} . However, a meta-analysis of 25 studies on the effect of genetically modified plants on bees showed that they do not affect the survival of adult bees and their larvae ^[18] . Moreover, there is no correlation between the regions where the bees disappeared and the regions where the GM plants are cultivated ^[19] .

Kills bees and nosematosis, European foulbrood , American foulbrood, 19 strains of viruses that have not yet learned how to treat, and also hypothermia (especially in winter, in cold weather).

It has been suggested that a combination of several factors ^{[20] [21] [22]} , including the radiation of cell towers ^[23] , may serve as the cause.

The cause may be a viral infection ^[24] .

At the beginning of the XXI century, beekeepers again turned to the help of organic ( formic and oxalic ) acids, which were once abandoned due to the great difficulties of working with them - it is much easier for a beekeeper to use chemicals against Varroa ticks than acids 3-4 times a season treating the hive with chemicals (and in this case, in 20-30% of cases, the bee is damaged).

Today it is impossible to start an apiary near rapeseed crops - it is sprayed 2-3 times per season. The bees cannot stand this: at first they become aggressive, and after a month or two they leave the hive. However, the more characteristic harm from the proximity of bees to rapeseed is the unsuitability of rapeseed honey for wintering. A bee family left for the winter with such honey dies in most cases.

• Cockroach depopulation in the CIS countries

In English

• PBS: Silence of the Bees
• CCD - University of Florida
• Colony health - Beeologics
• CCD, USDA Plans, news releases, videos, audios On the Florida Pest Alert site - see entry for 05/06/08
• website of the 2009 documentary Vanishing of the Bees explores possible causes of CCD
• Requiem for the Honeybee By Prof. Joe Cummins. Study by the British non-government 'Institute for Science in Society', which published a short review of the scientific literature on the dying of honey bees and neonicotinoids
• COLOSS.org website of a worldwide group of researchers collaborating on CCD
• Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder (January 7, 2010)
• Bee devastation: Campaign for total ban of neonicotinoid pesticides (March 9, 2009)

In German

• Petra Steinberger: Das spurlose Sterben in der SZ vom 12. März 2007
• Rätselhaftes Verschwinden von Honigbienen in 24 US-Bundesstaaten - Wikinews ( Feb 27, 2007)
• Gentechnik - alles unter Kontrolle? Greenpeace Gruppe Aachen
• Schweizer bienen leben länger - keine direkte gefahr für die europäischen bienen
• Verband der deutschweizerischen und rätoromanischen Bienenzüchtervereine - Informationen zu Hintergründen des Bienensterbens des vergangenen Winters
• Sind die Handys am Bienensterben schuld? Telepolis
• Martin Kotynek: Honig saugen aus dem Bienensterben in der SZ vom. 27. Juni 2007
• Sterben im Stock - Verursachen Milben den rätselhaften Bienentod in den USA? GEO Magazin Nr. 8/07
• Focus Online (04/13/2009): Parasit verursacht mysteriöses Bienensterben