Where Have All The Bees Gone!?
by Sarah Moore, Life Sciences Manager

Apiarists around the world are dealing with a most perplexing problem: many of their bees are missing! It's called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the mysterious ailment that is leaving beehives without workers. Since we maintain a hive here at Pacific Science Center, we're keenly interested.

So far, this condition has been reported in 26 states and in other places around the world. In the fall, when keepers checked their hives they would simply find boxes containing honey, brood, and a queen, but none of the bustling activity of adult worker bees. The lack of even dead adult bees is the most puzzling part of this situation, as there are few bodies to examine. Those few dead bees that are found show high levels of many fungi, bacteria and viruses. In the absence of any data, beekeepers have speculated on causes of the collapse, blaming everything from changing weather to new types of pesticides that cause bees to become disoriented, to immune failure from multiple disease and mite vectors. To date, nobody has come up with the answer.

Knowledge Is Power

One important part of finding the answer is increasing awareness and understanding of bees. That's why Pacific Science Center has been maintaining an observation hive for many years. This hive, encased in glass and viewable from two sides has a tube that connects to the outside world that allows the bees to come and go. During the winter months we sometimes lose the entire colony because of challenges in providing for bees in an exhibit setting. When that happens, we have to install a new colony in the spring.

May is a very important month for bees and beekeepers. During the early months of spring, the bee hive is concentrating on survival; raising enough new workers to bring in food, while also conserving the honey that got them through the winter. Beekeepers need to medicate the hive for various health disorders, and perhaps feed and care for it, without interrupting the important work going on inside. Opening beehives on cold days can set back the entire hive.

In late April through May, flowers, nectar and pollen suddenly become very abundant, and so do bees. With luck and skill, beekeepers have built up their hive populations, because lots of bees means lots of honey!

In early May, we installed our new bee colony. Our queen, marked with a red dot on her back, looks healthy and busy; she can be seen laying eggs, surrounded with a cluster of workers. If you have trouble finding her, a hint from a veteran beekeeper is: ask kids. Their good eyesight and pattern recognition make the younger set shine at this task. Although our hive appears to have abundant honey, there is never enough for human consumption - Pacific Science Center's observation hive is simply too small to make any extra. Click the image below to view a video of our colony installation.

Times are tough for bees and beekeepers, as some of the links below will show. Colony Collapse Disorder is only the latest of many parasites, bacteria and other health problem bees have encountered. One of the steps to understanding the complex set of health, economic and physical problems challenging the world of beekeeping is to understand bees themselves - and what better place to begin, than by watching them in action.

To answer the most common questions we get about bees:

• We employ a contract beekeeper, who raises several colonies of bees off site. In the spring and fall, he changes out the bees we are displaying for a new hive, or replaces everything if the bees did not survive the winter.
• We do not produce significant quantities of honey at our on-site hive.
• Our hive is not typical of how most bees organize their living space. Normal hives are much deeper than one frame. Honey and larvae are preferentially placed in the center frames, with those near the edges being the least used. Because our hive is one frame deep, essentially all frames are "edge" to the bees. Because of this, our bees have more trouble with storage and other space issues than standard hives.
• No one was stung during the install.
• Our colony did not suffer Colony Collapse Disorder.

Cell Phones?

Many news stories have been written about a German study that some say suggested cell phones are to blame for CCD. Here is one of many stories, this one from →Canada.com. The scientists who conducted the study have since said it was never intended to draw a connection to CCD.

A Disease, Pathogens or Pesticides?

Scientists are looking at all sorts of possible causes for CCD. Among the latest possibilities is a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae. But the actual cause or causes are still unknown. →More

USDA Has A Plan

The United States Department of Agriculture has announced a new plan to deal with CCD. It doesn't appear there are too many worries about having enough bees to pollinate crops in 2007, but 2008 is a different story, so the USDA has developed a plan. Read all about it at →usda.gov.

It's Important To All Of Us

Beekeeping is not just an important industry, but also provides pollination for many crops, such as almonds, citrus and cotton, so many organizations have a vested interest in finding out what is causing these hive losses.

Pacific Science Center's beekeeper, John deGroot suggests four practices that could help bees (and beekeepers), regardless of the cause or implications of CCD.

• If you use pesticides, choose those least toxic to other species (such as fish, bees, butterflies, etc.), and follow the manufacturer's label exactly. Using more or less of a product, or using it incorrectly, can do far more harm than good.
• Support urban beekeeping. Be informed about regulations limiting bees in cities, and let the regulating agencies know that you support the keeping of bees.
• If you like honey, buy it. Beekeepers usually work with tight margins making the bulk of their profit from pollinating plants for farmers, but making up the remainder with honey. Quite simply, buying honey supports beekeepers.
• Learn about bees. Learn the difference between bees and yellowjackets. Many bees are needlessly poisoned by individuals who believe they are stinging wasps.

To these four I would add: protect our other pollinating insects. Butterflies, bumble bees, orchard mason bees and many small wasps help keep flowers pollinated. Learn about them and protect them by keeping their habitats open, poison-free and inviting to their needs.

More Information:

Puget Sound Beekeepers Association →pugetsoundbees.org
American Beekeeping Association →abfnet.org
Penn State University (includes a dowloadable CCD FAQ) →psu.edu