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- Title
Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study.
- Authors
van Engelsdorp, Dennis; Evans, Jay D.; Saegerman, Claude; Mullin, Chris; Haubruge, Eric; Kim Nguyen, Bach; Frazier, Maryann; Frazier, Jim; Cox-Foster, Diana; Yanping Chen; Underwood, Robyn; Tarpy, David R.; Pettis, Jeffery S.
- Abstract
Background: Over the last two winters, there have been large-scale, unexplained losses of managed honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies in the United States. In the absence of a known cause, this syndrome was named Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) because the main trait was a rapid loss of adult worker bees. We initiated a descriptive epizootiological study in order to better characterize CCD and compare risk factor exposure between populations afflicted by and not afflicted by CCD. Methods and Principal Findings: Of 61 quantified variables (including adult bee physiology, pathogen loads, and pesticide levels), no single measure emerged as a most-likely cause of CCD. Bees in CCD colonies had higher pathogen loads and were co-infected with a greater number of pathogens than control populations, suggesting either an increased exposure to pathogens or a reduced resistance of bees toward pathogens. Levels of the synthetic acaricide coumaphos (used by beekeepers to control the parasitic mite Varroa destructor) were higher in control colonies than CCD-affected colonies. Conclusions/Significance: This is the first comprehensive survey of CCD-affected bee populations that suggests CCD involves an interaction between pathogens and other stress factors. We present evidence that this condition is contagious or the result of exposure to a common risk factor. Potentially important areas for future hypothesis-driven research, including the possible legacy effect of mite parasitism and the role of honey bee resistance to pesticides, are highlighted.
- Subjects
UNITED States; COLONY collapse disorder of honeybees; HONEYBEES; PATHOGENIC microorganisms; PHYSIOLOGY; PARASITISM; ANIMAL specialists; VARROA; ACARICIDE resistance
- Publication
PLoS ONE, 2009, Vol 4, Issue 8, p1
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0006481