Mother Nature’s pollinator, the bee, is creating a buzz without even being present.

Scientists and beekeepers throughout the nation continue to lament the disappearance of whole colonies to a befuddling enemy called Colony Collapse Disorder.

It’s confusing because no one can say exactly what it is, although it has been taking a toll on beehives since 2006.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports 33.8 percent of total honey bee colony was lost nationwide from October 2009-April. A total of 28 percent of beekeeping operations reported that some of their colonies vanished without dead bees present — the definition of CCD.

Some beekeepers are struggling to rebuild colonies after the disappearance of the pollinating insects caused by Colony Collapse Disorder.
Barbara Elmore photo

The disorder cannot be traced to a disease, predator, or poison. The name Colony Collapse Disorder is as specific as bee experts can make it without knowing what is causing large populations of bees to disappear every year.

“No one really knows what it is,” said Paul Jackson of Texas A&M University, chief apiary inspector and entomologist for Texas’ Apiary Inspection Service. “It’s probably a type of chemical, a pesticide, herbicide or fungicide. It may be associated with disease or parasites.”

Jackson said he thinks the syndrome is caused by more than one chemical, as well as Varroa mites that feed on bees, plus a secondary disease that weakens them.

Scientists think moving the bees from place to place to pollinate crops, a common practice for beekeepers, puts additional stress on the insect.

Bees provide pollination for more than 90 commercial crops in the United States. Pollination-based agriculture represents about a third of the U.S. diet, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

What Jackson, other entomologists and farmers know for certain is that CCD causes the bees to disappear. Beekeepers also attribute their losses to starvation, bad weather and entering wintertime with weak colonies.

But Jackson is convinced that CCD is present at least three months before a beekeeper ever knows it.

CCD is similar to something called “disappearing disease,” which occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s and caused bees to vanish in large numbers, Jackson said.

Bee experts did not name a cause then, either. There was no pattern to it, similar to today’s situation. One beekeeper sees it and another, perhaps only five miles away, does not.

Some beekeepers who have suffered losses are trying to build up their colonies, but “it’s tearing up their pocketbooks,” Jackson said.

They can build back for a year or two, but after that, they need to be collecting nectar for honey flow instead.

Jackson, who has maintained his own personal beehives over the years, got involved in bees as a young boy growing up on an Arkansas farm. Strategically placed hives helped his family stop gasoline thefts from the farm vehicles.

Jackson continued to work with bees even after he left home and entered the Army. In one notable military duty while stationed in Germany, he removed a swarm of bees from a tank barrel using gun oil, a string mop, a pipe, a tow sack and duct tape.

He continued keeping bees after his Army service and provides them now for his schoolteacher daughter’s classes.

“That’s her ball of wax now,” he joked.

He said gardeners and homeowners seeking to encourage more bees can take these steps:

*  Use insecticide selectively. Follow label instructions and don’t apply it indiscriminately;

*  If you spray insecticide or other chemicals, do so in the evening when the bees return to the hive. They forage during the day; and,

*  Try not to spray anything during a plant’s blooming period.

Barbara Elmore, formerly of Waco, gardens in Fredericksburg. She publishes a free online garden and home newsletter. To subscribe, e-mail her at barbara@digandletdig.com.