Comrade Rage
21st February 2008, 22:39
Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD) is a little-understood phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_%28beekeeping%29) or Western honey bee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee) colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearance has a long-standing history of occurring, the term Colony Collapse Disorder was originally applied to perceived disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in a minority of regions of North America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America) in late 2006.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-Penn)
European beekeepers observed a similar phenomenon in Belgium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium), France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France), the Netherlands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands), Greece (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece), Italy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy), Portugal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal), and Spain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-Monde), and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland) and Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany), albeit to a lesser degree.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-sueddeutsche) Possible cases of CCD have also been reported in Taiwan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan) since April 2007.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-Echos)
The cause (or causes) of the syndrome is not yet well understood. Theories include environmental change-related stresses,[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-cnn) malnutrition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malnutrition), pathogens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathogen) (i.e., disease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_the_honey_bee)[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-CCDWG) including Israel acute paralysis virus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_the_honey_bee#Israel_acute_paralysis_v irus_.28IAPV.29)[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-nytvirus)[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-sciam)), mites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mite), pesticides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide_toxicity_to_bees) such as neonicotinoids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoids) or imidacloprid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid), radiation from cellular phones or other man-made devices,[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-cellphone) and genetically modified (GM) crops (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food) with pest control characteristics such as transgenic maize (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenic_maize).[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-Sierra)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder
Thoughts?
European beekeepers observed a similar phenomenon in Belgium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium), France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France), the Netherlands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands), Greece (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece), Italy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy), Portugal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal), and Spain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-Monde), and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland) and Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany), albeit to a lesser degree.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-sueddeutsche) Possible cases of CCD have also been reported in Taiwan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan) since April 2007.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-Echos)
The cause (or causes) of the syndrome is not yet well understood. Theories include environmental change-related stresses,[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-cnn) malnutrition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malnutrition), pathogens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathogen) (i.e., disease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_the_honey_bee)[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-CCDWG) including Israel acute paralysis virus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_the_honey_bee#Israel_acute_paralysis_v irus_.28IAPV.29)[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-nytvirus)[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-sciam)), mites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mite), pesticides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide_toxicity_to_bees) such as neonicotinoids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoids) or imidacloprid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid), radiation from cellular phones or other man-made devices,[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-cellphone) and genetically modified (GM) crops (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food) with pest control characteristics such as transgenic maize (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenic_maize).[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder#_note-Sierra)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder
Thoughts?