By Ashley Bouman

Honey is nature's candy. But what happens when it disappears? The world as we know it would be over. All over the planet, bee populations are disappearing at a rapid rate and many scientists are baffled as to why. Though many reasons have been studied and suggested, the rapidness of the disappearance is inexplicable. Bees are one of the world's most important pollinators and if they disappear completely (which could happen), we, and many other species, would have trouble surviving.

The collapse of entire colonies of beehives is repeating itself around the world. It is a global crisis, yet researchers and scientists deem it a mystery. The phenomenon started in early 2006, when veteran bee farmer, Dave Hackenberg, noticed the populations of his honey bee colonies quickly diminishing. This sparked concern all over the globe, especially when other bee farmers noticed that it was happening to their populations as well. Along with the decline in the honey bee population, the wild bee population was also decreasing.

The scientific term for this phenomenon of decline in bee populations is "colony collapse disorder" (CCD). While historically the disappearance of bees has happened numerous times in the record of apiculture, CCD is the term applied to a much more drastic degree of decline in the honey bee population of colonies in North America. European beekeepers have observed similar phenomena in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, France and Belgium, with initial reports coming from Germany and Switzerland, but at a lesser amount.

There are over 19,000 species of bees. A variety of species live in different areas; for example, some live in the ground, some live in twigs, while other habitats include forests and desserts. All these species are impacted by different factors; for instance, ground bee hives can be destroyed by deep tilling.

Bees are irreplaceable pollinators as they hunt for pollen to feed their young and in the process, inadvertently help flower reproduction. Bees are especially useful for food crops, contributing to 50% of the pollination of the crops. Wild bees are disappearing more quickly than the honey bees. This will have a cascading effect on the ecosystem.

The reason for raising bees has shifted in the past few years. Instead of raising bees for honey, many beekeepers now raise bees for mass transportation as crop pollinators. This trend could be one of the leading factors as to why the population is in peril. Around the world, bees are transported in trucks at night as precious cargo to awaiting fields. This constant movement can be very harmful to the bees' well-being.

California produces the 80% of the world's almond supply. Due to the vast acres of almond trees, bees are brought in from all around the country to help pollinate the budding blossoms. It takes about 50 billion bees to archive this and beekeepers can make 70% of their yearly incoming by "renting" their bees to the owners of the almond orchards. It seems that something so natural and essential to the functionality of the planet, bees and pollination, has now become a commodity. The industrial use of bees is atrocious, and the health of bees is often not taken into consideration. Some beekeepers transport their bees all around the country to aid in the pollination of various food crops. This constant motion fatigues and stresses the bees. One of the main reasons this stress is occurring is because of malnutrition, as the bees are not getting the variety of the pollen that they are used to. Many breeders do not realise that the nutrition of their bees is important and that it is something they need to be concerned about.

Another reason why bees are dying is the past and present use of pesticides. The pesticide Poncho®-Pro, made by Bayer, started to be used in Germany and France in the mid-2000s. Half an hour after its use, bees that had been flying around farm fields stopped flying and fell to the ground as if poisoned. Some bees died almost instantly; others suffered for a few days. Poncho®-Pro is a neonicotinoid insecticide that attacks the central nervous system of insects but has a lower toxicity for other animals. Unlike other insecticides that are applied to plants as they grow, Poncho®-Pro is applied to the seeds soon after they are planted. Studies were conducted to see if Poncho®-Pro was harmful to the bees, and the studies concluded that it was; however, Bayer has rejected these findings. Since 1994, there have been many protests held throughout Europe demanding that governments prohibit the use of harmful pesticides and insecticides. However, the use of these chemicals continues unchecked.

This is a serious problem. People sometimes find bees to be an annoyance but they are very important to the functionality of ecosystems and agriculture. People really need to pay attention to what is happening with the bee populations and how it could potentially and drastically change the way we live and our landscape. We may be destroying our own planet to a degree where it is irreplaceable. What happens when we only have half the amount of food crops that we do now? Perhaps people need to start harvesting their own colony of bees as we do with gardens. While education and research into apiculture need to be done, we can all do our part by buying produce that is organic (and pesticide/insecticide free) and not swatting bees when they buzz around our heads.