However, bee populations are disappearing at an alarming rate. Some blame Colony Collapse Disorder – a collapse of an entire colony of bees seemingly overnight. Dr. Faisal Moola reports for the David Suzuki Foundation a 2007 newsletter, “Colony collapse disorder is a plague that has hit bee colonies through the U.S. Although no instances of CCD have been confirmed in Canada, several recent reports of suspicious losses have been reported in Ontario and Saskatchewan.
“The symptoms of CCD are mysterious and bizarre. They include the sudden disappearance of the adult bees in an affected colony, but with no corpses remaining in the hive. Honey and pollen stores remain intact.
“The surviving workforce is too small for colony maintenance and the remaining bees seem reluctant to feed on either stored honey or pollen. Surviving colonies don’t raid those that have been affected by CCD. Such robbing behavior is typical among healthy colonies.
“Scientists think that the root cause of the plague may be stress resulting from the industrial management and transportation of domesticated bee colonies that are used for agricultural pollination purposes. Parasitic mites and other pathogens, as well as pesticides, have also been suggested as possible factors.”
In an agrarian-based economy such as that in Southern Maryland, bees, and other insects, provide the necessary function of pollination – the process by which most plants reproduce. Without reproduction, flowering vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, green beans and more, cannot produce the fruit carrying the seeds of reproduction for the plant.
Any gardener can attest to that fact. When walking through the garden in early morning hours, most flowering vegetables are abuzz with bee activity. In Southern Maryland, now in its peak growing season for a number of vegetables, the presence of bees in the garden is a welcomed sight.
In these parts, the requirement for hired guns – pollinators rented to pollinate crops – is not as prevalent as in other parts of the country. Former honey producers now make more by moving their hives along with the crops as seasons in various parts of the nation require pollination.
However, there is evidence that it is these migratory, domesticated honey bees that are at the root of the problem. Imported bees soon overtake an area, driving wild bee populations to the brink of extinction. Then when the hired guns are removed, the remaining wild bees are left without a source of food and habitat.
Massive spraying programs for mosquitoes and other pests also contribute to the decline in wild bee populations. Here in Southern Maryland, there are mosquito spraying programs but on the scale in other parts of the county and, for the moment, the wild bee population is stable.
As in many ecological arenas, wherever man decides to add his spice to the natural soufflé, often more harm than good is the direct result.
