Honey Bee Deaths
just Why are our
Honey Bees Disappearing?



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Honey bee deaths are more alarming than ever before at the time I write this article. I wanted to examine the reasons for our honey bees disappearing so drastically over the last decade and my research frightened my silly.



There have been many reported honey bee diseases for decades and never a day goes by where I don’t read all these very frightening newspaper reports.

The media are responsible at times for quite a bit of sensationalism which can at times lead to an almost state of hysteria.

Because of this I kept an open mind wondering if this was the case with our honey bees disappearing!

honey bee deaths



However, they do appear to have a lot of foundation to their reports. These reasons are why we really must Save the Honey Bees. The consequences if all our bees were to go missing is just too frightening for us to comprehend!

One beekeeper I met last year at the National Honey Show in England told me he was not unduly worried as there have been phases of disappearing honey bees which always amounted to nothing in particular and the colonies of bees soon appeared to recover.

I hope he doesn't end up eating his words because he won't be eating his own Raw Honey again!

Honey Bee Deaths ~ Fungal Disease Chalkbrood


Chalkbrood, this is so named due to its chalky powdery appearance. This bee disease has been reported as widespread and is believed to be caused by a fungus called Ascophaera apis.

This usually appears in springtime and if there is a lack of ventilation in the bee hives a high carbon dioxide occurs.

Nobody it seems has yet been able to identify just why this disease occurs although some think it may be genetic and will re-queen their colonies just to be on the safe side.

The reason for honey bee deaths with this disease is because it is believed also the spores are ingested by the larvae and germinate in their guts.

They are mummified and look chalky white and can be identified by having been thrown out of the hive by the house bees. They will be littered on the ground outside the hive.

Apart from re-queening their colonies beekeepers will often use acetic acid to sterilize the honeycombs.

Honey Bee Deaths ~ American and European Foulbrood


These are not as the name suggests confined to America and Europe, the “Foul” part of the word refers more to the smell which is omitted by a hive infected with this disease.

It is a notifiable disease which is responsible for many honey bee deaths. Caused by the bacterium Melissococcus plutonius. This penetrates the larvae through the wall of the gut and rapidly multiplies.

The larvae take on a slimy look before drying into brown and scaly. The honeycomb appears to be peppered with holes and can stay present for a very long time. Treatment with anti-biotics appears to be successful.

Honey Bee Deaths ~ Isle of White Disease


This is the main cause of bees disappearing to which the beekeepers I have spoken to speak about most.


This appears as female acarine mites leave the bee's airway and climb out on a hair of the bee, where they wait until they can transfer to a young bee. Once on the new bee, they will move into the airways and begin laying eggs.

A particularly nasty disease and once responsible for all honey bee deaths in Great Britain. It entered America via Mexico in the mid 1980s and is one that still strikes a worry with those involved with beekeeping.

Interestingly Brother Adam at the Buckfast Abbey developed a resistant hybrid bee known as the Buckfast bee, which is now available worldwide to combat acarine disease.

Honey Bee Deaths ~ Today


There are or have been many virus’s, bacterial infections, mites and fungal infections responsible for a great many of honey bee deaths, far too many for me to mention here.

However here is a full list of the many reasons
for honey bee deaths in general:


"Varroa" mites Treatment Acarine (Tracheal) mites Treatment Nosema Small hive beetle Wax moths Control and Treatment Bacterial diseases Symptoms American foulbrood (AFB) Treatment European foulbrood (EFB) Fungal diseases Chalkbrood Stonebrood Viral diseases Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) or (APV) Israel acute paralysis virus (IAPV) Kashmir bee virus (KBV)Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV) Chronic Paralysis Virus [CPV] Cloudy Wing Virus (CWV) Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) Sacbrood virus (SBV) Dysentery Chilled brood Pesticide losses


For this reason I happily provide this link for you if you wish to understand further the many reasons for honey bee deaths. (Opens a New Page)

Diseases of the Honey Bee



I know that honey bee deaths have caused dreadful problems at times more so in recent times. These are the ones I feel I should write and report about here in this article.


Honey Bee Deaths ~ Colony Collapse Disorder


Practically everyone has heard or read about this reason for our bees disappearing. But what is Colony Collapse Disorder? This is a question which at the time of writing this nobody worryingly has the answer to.

However, we must all take note of this worrying situation because the consequences for all humanity is dire if ALL our Bees go Missing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


by Staff Writers Washington (AFP) March 29, 2010 (Public Domain)



The decline in the US bee population, first observed in 2006, is continuing, a phenomenon that still baffles researchers and beekeepers.

Data from the US Department of Agriculture show a 29 percent drop in beehives in 2009, following a 36 percent decline in 2008 and a 32 percent fall in 2007.

This affects not only honey production but around 15 billion dollars worth of crops that depend on bees for pollination.

Scientists call the phenomenon "colony collapse disorder" that has led to the disappearance of millions of adult bees and beehives and occurred elsewhere in the world including in Europe.

Researchers have looked at viruses, parasites, insecticides, malnutrition and other environmental factors but have been unable to pinpoint a specific cause for the population decline.

The rough winter in many parts of the United States will likely accentuate the problem, says Jeff Pettis, lead researcher at Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland.

Winter figures will be published in April. But preliminary estimates already indicate losses of 30 to 50 percent, said David Mendes, president of the American Beekeeping Federation.

"There are a lot of beekeepers who are in trouble" he said. "Under normal condition you have 10 percent winter losses.. this year there are 30, 40 to 50 percent losses."

He said the phenomenon probably results from a combination of factors but that the increased use of pesticides appears to be a major cause.

"I don't put my bees in Florida because the last couple of years there has been tremendous increase in pesticide use in the orange crop to fight a disease," he said.

"It's a bacterium and the only way to control this disease is to use pesticide... a few years ago they did not use any pesticide at all." He said that pesticide use "has changed dramatically" and has made beekeeping "more challenging."

Research conducted in 23 US states and Canada and published in the Public Library of Science journal found 121 different pesticides in 887 samples of bees, wax, pollen and other elements of hives, lending credence to the notion of pesticides as a key problem. Pettis said the finding of pesticide residue is "troubling."

"It might not be the only factor but it's a contributing factor," he said. The best thing to help bees, he said its "to try to limit habitat destruction," leaving more natural areas in agriculture and in cities such so honey bees can have "a diverse natural environment."

Ironically, he said the problem stems from expansion of agriculture to feed the world. But in destroying bee populations, that can hurt crop production.

"The world population growth is in a sense the reason for pollinators' decline," he said."Because we need to produce more and more food to feed the world and we grow crops in larger fields.

A growing world means growing more food and to do that we need pollinators. And the fact that the world is continuing to grow is the driving force behind the habitat destruction."

......end of article......




After having read this report concerning honey bee deaths I for one certainly hope the causes for this are found soon and remedied. Frighteningly it has been estimated that by the year 2035 there will be no more honey bees! We really do need to put a stop to disappearing honey bees.

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