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| Colony Collapse Disorder
Colony Collapse Disorder, sometimes referred to as CCD, is a general term used to describe many of the conditions currently afflicting the Western honeybee population. Much is still unknown as to any one specific causative agent of CCD, and scientists are puzzled with the variety of diseases plaguing the current population.
The disease was first called to attention by Pennsylvanian beekeeper, Hackenburg, who notified researchers at Penn State University in November 2006 that “...he was down to about 1,000 colonies after having started the fall with 2,900” (Srakocic 2007). Soon after Hackenburg’s account, beekeepers from across the nation began to have similar concerns for their depleting population. Many honeybee producers involved in crop pollination found their honeybees dead or dying upon arrival to the different agricultural localities. While transportation is a common stress factor, and cause of death amongst agricultural vertebrates, beekeepers did not ordinarily share the same shipping quandary as those of the large animal producers, since very few honeybees ever fell victim to such trips.
The reports of CCD are no longer isolated events. Accounts of “unusual colony deaths have come from at least 22 states. Some affected commercial beekeepers, which often keep thousands of colonies, have reported losing more than 50 percent of their bees. A colony can have roughly 20,000 bees in the winter, and up to 60,000 in the summer” (Srakocic 2007). Such devastating statistics cannot possibly leave the honeybee industry unharmed, and in assessment of the “whole picture” so-to-speak, would inevitably extend to other areas of agriculture most would assume unrelated to the honeybee.
Colony Collapse disorder is currently thought to be a mix of environmental and biological stress inducers. The varroa mite has long been the scapegoat for beekeepers in search of an answer, but the truth is that while the varroa mite infestations are disastrous, they are not all that common as some would like to believe, leading scientists to wonder if the parasitism and fungal infections are merely secondary infections due to a weakened immune state at the mercy of Colony Collapse Disorder.
In the left-hand navigation bar, two topics are available under the heading of Colony Collapse Disorder. Each deals with one aspect of causative agents thought to be related to Colony Collapse Disorder. In the first, Infectious diseases, we will briefly examine several different diseases from fungi to bacteria, and in the second, Environmental stressors, we will discuss how man’s use of chemicals, and need for pollination may have contributed to the overall Western honeybee decline.
  
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