Every year honey bees pollinate an estimated $200 billion worth of crops, and every year for the last five years, their numbers have been reducing dramatically. According to reports by Time Magazine, since 2006 an estimated 10 million beehives worth about $200 each have been lost, costing beekeepers some $2 billion. The phenomenon is called Colony Collapse Disorder and a new study published in Nature, shows evidence that it's spreading faster than we thought possible.
“Wild populations of bumblebees appear to be in significant decline across Europe, North America, South America and also in Asia,” said study author Mark Brown of the University of London told the Washington Post. His study confirmed that a contributing factor of the decline was “the spillover of parasites and pathogens and disease” from managed honeybee hives.
Studies at 26 sites in England found that 20% of wild bumblebees suffered from deformed wing virus, which can paralyze and eventually kill the insects, according to the report published online Wednesday.
“I think the important take-home message is that we need to be concerned not just about our managed pollinators, but our wild pollinators as well,” Brown told the LA Times.
But what's killing the pollinators in the first place? Like most problems in nature, there is more than one factor, creating a positive feedback loop that is a proverbial coup de grace for honey bee health. According to the USDA, several viral and bacterial viruses are running rampant, including a parasitic mite called Varroa destructor that has often been found in decimated colonies.
In the past honey bees have been more than capable of fighting off infections and the destructor mites all on their own, but recent studies suggest that the abundant use of pesticides is weakening the capabilities of bees to fight off these dangers.
Researchers found 35 pesticides at lethal levels, in the pollen gathered from bees servicing major food crops in Califiornia and four other states, according to a study in the journal PLOS One.
“Bees are getting exposed to a lot of different products, including fungicides,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an entomologist at the University of Maryland and lead author of the report told the LA Times. “What’s surprising is that it seems to weaken the bee’s ability to fight off infection.”
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