Colony collapse disorder or CCD occurs when a bee colony collapses or fails due to the sudden disappearance of its worker bees. Bee colonies may be destroyed or may withdraw from a hive for a number of reasons. For example, Varroa mite infestations can be particularly destructive. However, the exact cause of CCD or “the mass disappearance of worker honey bees” is unknown. There are several theories to explain what’s causing CCD, but it probably results from a combination of factors. Though, there may be one or two factors—probably resulting from anthropogenic activities—which play a more prominent role in the manifestation of CCD. For instance, according to the Daily Green, bee frames, which house the honey, pollen, bee larva, and unhatched bee eggs, have “to be replaced every 2 or 3 years because of the agricultural toxins that build up inside.” More from the Washington Times:

The prevailing theory on the cause of CCD includes several factors. The three main suspects of CCD are: viruses, stress and pesticides. When joined together these factors may create the deadly disease, researchers say.

As a result of the increasing scarcity of bees and beekeepers, the cost of bee rental has skyrocketed. Farmers rent beehives to increase pollination thus crop productivity, so bees do more than just make honey—they’re important pollinators as well. According to estimates from a Cornell University study, “Nearly one-third of U.S. agriculture depends on the 2.4 million bee colonies for big crop production, where they annually pollinate $14 billion worth of seeds and crops.” More from Economist.com:

Since 2006, however, bees have been suffering from “colony collapse disorder” (CCD), a mysterious affliction that has drastically reduced their numbers. As a result, says Joe MacIlvaine, the president of Paramount Farming and the largest almond-grower in the world, the rental cost of a hive has tripled in the past five years to about $150. Bee rental now accounts for 15% of Paramount’s costs.

So Paramount has hired Mr Wardell, who has been studying bees for 30 years and CCD since it broke out. Its cause may be mobile-telephony radiation, viruses, fungi, mites and pesticides—or none of the above. In the absence of a clear explanation, Mr Wardell is concentrating on something different: nutrition.

A healthy worker bee spends about four weeks in its hive, feeding on protein-rich pollen and nursing larvae, and then another two weeks in the field eating sugary honey until its proteins are depleted and it dies. For some reason bees are getting too little protein in the hive, thus dying after only about four weeks, almost as soon as they venture outside. So Mr Wardell is force-feeding them protein. He owns a patent for MegaBee, which he says “looks like cookie dough”. He puts a bit of this into the hives, blocking the bees’ entrance so that they have to chomp their way through it. As part of his new job, Mr Wardell is working with beekeepers across the country to supplement bee diets everywhere.

So far he has noticed that hives are smaller this year and some colonies still collapsing. But he has hopes that his cookies will work, bringing more of a buzz next year.

In addition to nutritional issues, current research into a solution for CCD is focusing on breeding disease-resistant bees. From the Washington Times:

Through the growing science of genomics – the science of looking at molecular information in DNA – Mr. Delaplane’s science team will select a super-resistant bee that is able to naturally combat CCD and a culprit in this disorder: varroa mites.

First, “We’re going to be identifying bees that are resistant to XYZ” diseases, he said. Then, “We will be able to genetically mark these lines.”

The technique of marking and using favorable genetic traits is now done in the animal and plant industry, but marking a natural trait is different than engineering a change.

“We have no plan for doing [genetic] engineered selections,” Mr. Delaplane said. “We’re going to be screening for natural resistance.”

Afterward, Mr. Delaplane’s team will take those disease-resistant bees and breed more of them. Here science is guiding the process of natural selection.

Once the genetically strong bees are developed in the laboratory, they will be shipped to commercial bee breeders. The breeders, in turn, will mass produce them and flood the market with disease-resistant bees to beekeepers across the country. CCD may still be around, but the superbee’s immune system will effectively combat it.

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