colony collapse disorder why should we care about the loss of honey bees? by adam formica, rowan...
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Colony Collapse DisorderWhy should we care about the loss of honey bees?
By Adam Formica, Rowan Finnegan,Rachel Goodman
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Left:http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/files/2008/04/honeycomb1.jpg
Right: http://tokyogreenspace.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/white_house_bee2_hive.jpg
Definition and Causes
• IAPV
• Varroa mite
• Pesticides
• Stress
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Image:http://media.photobucket.com/image/sick%20bee%20colony/wee-mama-xyz/ColonyCollapseDisorder.jpg
Table: vanEngelsdorp, Dennis, Hayes, Jerry Jr., Underwood, Robyn M., and Jerry Pettis. (2008, December 30). A Survey of Honey Bee Colony Losses in the U.S., Fall 2007 to Spring 2008. PlosOne 3(12), Article e4071.
Decline in and Value of Honeybees• Long-term decline since 1950s
• Industry in decline• Natural pollinators in decline
• CCD exacerbates downward trend in 2006• Honeybees contribute to 1/3 of the food we eat
• McGregor, S.E. 1976. Insect Pollinations of Cultivated Crop Plants. US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook 496.
• “The Value of the World’s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital”
• Service of pollination valued at $117 billion worldwide
Decline of Colonies in the US
Source: Honey, February, 2007, Agricultural Statistics Board, NASS, USDA, http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/Hone/Hone-02-28-2007.pdf
Bees in the Context of Ecosystems• European honeybee colonies brought to Americas in the
16th Century• Few bee species used for pollination in intensive
agriculture – Apis mellifera• Bees one of over a 100,000 species that pollinate flowers
– bats, birds, insects etc.• Wild bee species absent in wall-to-wall agriculture
because of habitat loss• Restructuring Agriculture/Conservation Planning: mosaic
farms, hedgerows, insectary strips, multi-cropping
Commercial Beekeeping
Mono-Cropping
Organic Farm Bat Pollination
Economic Impact• Estimates range from two to four hundred billion. The
journal of Ecological Economics placed the value of pollination services at 153 billion1 (~$228 billion).
• 200 countries, based on the FAO 100 primary food crops used for human consumption.
• 87 crops are pollinator dependent with different dependence ratios
• The true impact is difficult to assess due to the scope of the impact and difficult correlations.
• Feed crops -Alfalfa• Plants used for Ethanol