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Hi Kent & All, June 20, 2007
I know practically nothing about Honey Bees but understand that a
hive population is a highly organized social structure with skills for
the various specialized functions being imprinted early in development.
If it is true that bees can not readily adapt to changes in hive
composition, then could not sufficient loss of forager bees cause the
hive system to go into a tailspin ?
In 1962, when we drove across the U.S. in August, we were cautioned
in some western states (Utah, Montana and Idaho ?) to clean our radiator
of bees before going up mountains. Apparently a lot of vehicles in that
area were getting bees on their radiators, leading to overheated cooling
systems and unscheduled stops. Bees then, were a local problem to motor
vehicles.
With many more motor vehicles now on more roads, could motor
vehicles now be a widespread problem to bees ?
Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
Kent Mullin wrote:
> Hi All,
> As most of us are aware, the problem of collapsing
> honeybee colonies appears to have begun slowly in the U.S. in late
> summer and fall of 2006, becoming more rapidly apparent in early
> 2007, when it was given the name of Colony Collapse Disorder.
>
> The article "Colony Collapse Disorder(CCD) in Canada: Do we have a
> problem?" recently placed on naturens highlights many possibilities
> for individual hive collapse, but offers little to critically address
> the cause(s) of epidemic hive collapse that is currently affecting
> beekeeping in the United States (and possibly soon in Canada). In
> short, what the article fails to state is that of the stressors and
> threats to colony viability that it mentions, all were in existance ,
> and stressing and threatening bee colonies, for years before the
> advent of CCD.
>
> Indeed what is needed for resolution of the CCD problem is
> identification of a change, an indication of something happening on a
> widespread basis, either just before, or in conjunction with the
> advent of CCD as an epidemic. Something that was not prevalent before.
>
> The article does mention one thing however that is extremely
> significant, and that is the fact that the stored honey and pollen
> has no appeal, either to the young inhabitants of the collapsed hive
> or to the adjacent hives (which would normally raid an unprotected
> hive for it's stored honey and pollen). In this anomalous behaviour
> is a hint, that possibly the same inhibitor (whatever it is) could be
> what is keeping the foraging bees from returning to the hive which
> isolation would ultimately result in their death.
> While the honey in the collapsed hive, in and of itself, may not
> yield a cause, it can, with a little investigation indicate the
> direction in which to look for one.
>
> Kent
>
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