Colony colapse disorder - Case Study Example

The queen is also present meaning that the hive is not dead. Before the actual CCD takes place, the colony members always become reluctant to eat the food (protein supplement and sugar syrup) provided. CCD is if great global significance because a very high percentage of agricultural crops are pollinated by bees. Background information on miticides, antibiotics, and neonicotinoid pesticides Neonicotinoid pesticides are commonly used in various parts of the world. This group of pesticides assume the model of nicotine which is a natural insecticide.

Neonicotinoid pesticides act on the central nervous system (CNS) of insects causing excitation of nerves and finally, paralysis. Evidence from research has revealed that the use of pesticides like neonicotinoid pesticides and nicotine-based pesticides greatly affects the functioning and learning abilities of honeybees. This is very critical to the workers since they are the most active and dependable members of a colony. According to Gary et al (2009), it has been documented that neonicotinoid pesticides levels that are able to affect the ability learning of bees occur in pollen hence they affect bees that feed on such pollen.

There is an increasing threat on honeybees and their hives by mites and this has increased the dependence on miticides in order to control the situation. Basically, miticides are used in agriculture, to control the spread of mites. This is important because mites have a key role to play in the loss of good health among honeybees. However, the intensive use of these miticides has led to the development of their resistance by mites. To add an injury to this, toxicity tests conducted on bee hives have revealed that the levels of miticides in many bee hives has greatly increased (Mullen et al, 2010).

Miticides are destructive to colonies of bees because they accumulate in bees wax. Bees wax is a least renewable resource in the hive hence it provides a base on which persistent pesticides can accumulate and cause toxic house syndrome (Mullen et al, 2010). In modern medicine, antibiotics are among the medications that are prescribed most frequently. Antibiotics are important for both animals and plants because they kill or injure disease-causing bacteria. However, it has been found that their use contribute to deficiencies of the immune system while their prolonged use lead to antibiotic resistant diseases and super-pests.

Many commercial beekeepers administer antibiotics on regular basis as a protective measure against brood diseases hence honeybees have not been exempted from the effects of prolonged use of antibiotics. It has been found out that the major bacterial diseases that attack bees have also developed resistance to antibiotics. Resistance to pesticides has triggered the development of genetically modified crops that are thought to be producing pollen that also cause CCD (Gary et al, 2009. Potential Causes of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) The causes of CCD are still under investigation and almost every realistic and conceivable cause is a possibility.

Four areas of research focused on by scientists in early times included bee management stresses such as poor nutrition, environment-related stresses, parasites and pathogen, and pesticides and chemicals. In the early studies, scientists had ruled out some conditions and practices from being probable causes of CCD. They include chemicals used by the