Honey Bees Disappearing

For some reason there are vast numbers of Bees disappearing in the United States and no one knows why. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that bees are vanishing in 22 states. The immensity of this mystery is heightened when you understand that bees are essential for pollinating some 90 varieties of vegetables and fruits (including apples, blueberries & cherries).

This scary phenomenon occurring in the United States has been dubbed “Colony Collapse Disorder” or CCD by scientist. Basically, the bees leave their hives and simply do not return. There are no signs of the bees, no dead bees anywhere, just gone.

Usually when there is a problem it is a known killer such as the Verroa Mite, an external parasite that attacks honey bees and can wipe out a hive. Usually when a hive begins to decline predators seeking honey will attack the hive and competing bees and parasites will take over the hive. With what’s happening now, all other bees and parasites are staying away which suggest that some toxin or chemical is keeping them away.

The finger of suspicion is being pointed at agriculture pesticides such as the widely-used neonicotinoides, which are already known to be poisonous to bees. Other countries have had these issues in the past in some form. France saw a huge fall in its bee population in the 1990s, blamed on the insecticide Gaucho which has now been banned in the country.