Honeybee Deaths Worsen: Colonies Disappear and Risk Food Supplies

Honeybee colonies are in more trouble than ever, and are putting the nation's food supply at risk. One-third of colonies in the United States died or disappeared last winter, which leaves farmers in a precarious position.

The bee disappearance is caused by multiple factors, but the most deadly of these is known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This disorder is caused by a variety of issues that range from pests and pathogens to pesticides. Whatever the causes might be, CCD occurs when the adult honeybees suddenly disappear or die, leaving the younger bees unable to cope and eventually leading to the collapse of the entire colony.

Yet it's not only CCD that affects bees. Researchers have recently found that pesticides affect the brains of bees, confusing them and causing them to be unable to navigate properly to food sources. They've also found that toxic metals such as aluminum and nickel can be found in the flowers that bees visit--though it primarily affects bumblebees as opposed to honeybees.

Now, researchers have found that beekeepers lost 31 percent of their colonies in late 2012 and early 2013. That's roughly double of what's considered to be acceptable in terms of losses. In fact, there were barely enough bees to pollinate the almond crop this March, according to Wired.

Honeybees pollinate everything from cucumbers to apples to watermelons. Yet as their numbers dwindle, farmers have had to resort to hiring bees from beekeepers every season in order to pollinate the flowers that emerge. Unfortunately, it seems that this year this problem is only growing worse.

"If we want to grow fruits and nuts and berries, this is important," said Dennis vanEngelstorp, an entomologist who led a survey documenting honeybee declines, in an interview with Wired. "One in every three bites [of food consumed in the U.S.] is directly or indirectly pollinated by bees."

Yet there are ways to help counteract this decline--or at least keep populations from completely collapsing. Sustainable farming practices could help honeybee numbers increase once more. More specifically, farmers could limit the use of synthetic fertilizers and allow weeds and native plants to grow and prosper along the border of primary crops.

"We need landscapes carefully managed for a diversity of functionally important groups of organisms that sustain many important ecosystem services such as pollination, pest, pathogen and weed control and decomposition," said Alexandra-Maria Klein, an agroecologist from the University of Geottingen, in a news release.

Although reversing this decline is certainly possible, quick action is needed. If bad agricultural practices continue, then it's likely that there simply won't be enough pollinators to go around, which means less food for everyone.