Breakthrough in Colony Collapse Disorder

For some time the bee population has been declining. This is likely due to many causes. However, in the past few years the decline of honeybees started becoming precipitous with entire colonies merely disappearing rapidly. Most people don't realize how alarming this is. But when you consider that a third of our food supply is dependent on insect pollination, and the vast majority of that pollination is thanks to honeybees, it means about one third of our food supply is at risk. Add to this the fact that fisheries are also collapsing (I recently heard that 90% are in decline, though outright collapse is occurring in some 50% of them) and you have some serious food shortages looming.

This is not exaggeration. This is based on current scientific data.

One of the most worrisome aspect of Colony Collapse Disorder was that no one could find a cause for it. It was frustrating not even knowing what the primary threat to our food supply was.

But now scientists ins Spain have found at least one cause and have been able to treat it. From Ars Technica:

Spanish researchers report the cause of the colony collapse disorder, and also suggest a cure. The researchers isolated the parasitic fungi Nosema ceranae from a pair of Spanish apiaries, while finding none of the other proposed causes—Varroa destructor, IAPV, or pesticides. With the identification of the invading pathogen, the team treated other diseased colonies with fumagillin—an antibiotic—and observed a complete recovery of the colony.

Honeybees play a key role in horticulture as they are significant pollinators of fruit, crops, and wild flowers. They are indispensable to many sustainable agriculture farms, so keeping them healthy is of great concern. While they are important, other research has suggested using wild bees—those that are solitary cavity- or soil-nesting insects—as opposed to large colonies of honey bees, can result in successful pollination as well.

I know California almond growers are thrilled at this breakthrough since their industry was getting hit hardest so far from Colony Collapse Disorder. Hopefully this breakthrough can lead to a slowing of the decline in honeybees...but we have to remember that there was a decline already in progress before Colony Collapse Disorder. That means there are more parts of the puzzle to be found and, hopefully, solved.