Summary of CCD

1. Summary of CCD • A range of factors, from pests, diseases, loss of forage and habitat changing climate have all been identified as possible contributing factors to unsustainable bee losses. • A strong body of science has also implicated a class of systemic pesticides known as neonicotinoids as a leading driver of bee declines. • They are used on crops, for cosmetic use in gardens, and as termite and flea treatments

3. “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination... no more men!” Honey bees are responsible for pollinating one in three bites of food we eat

7. No more humans? • Major food crops (wheat, rice, and corn) wind pollinated • Third of food crops bee pollinated, but only some of these are highly dependent upon honey bees (like almonds, 90%) • Change in diet, but not extinction or the apocalypse • Honey bee shortage driven by 300% increase (since 1950’s) in the amount of bee-dependent “luxury” crops

8. More bee-dependent luxury crops (Aizen and Harder, 2009; Hayes 2010)

9. Demand for luxury crops driven by affluence of new global middle class • More disposable income • Globalization brings greater diversity of imported specialty crops • Healthy eating prioritized over meeting basic caloric needs • High antioxidant, vitamin rich and often bee-dependent foods desired • Lack of honey bees to meet demand http://www.almonds.com

10. Fewer bees could impact availability of some vitamin-rich plant foods • As much as 50% of the production of plant sources of vitamin A requires bee pollination • Vitamin A deficiencies occur in areas of highest pollination dependence • Disruptions in pollination have implications for accessibility of micronutrients for public health.

11. Demand for bees drives up rental fees for hives Increasing issues over bee theft in California

12. Remaining bees worked harderthus aggravating bee decline

13. “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination... no more men!” http://www.ent.uga.edu/bees/OnEinsteinBeesandSurvivaloftheHumanRaceHoneyBeeProgramCAESEntomologyUGA.html http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/bees.asp

14. Rethinking the narrative about CCD and bee decline • “Dying bees have become symbols of environmental sin. By engaging in simplistic and sometimes misleading environmental narratives — by exaggerating the stakes and brushing over the inconvenient facts that stand in the way of foregone conclusions — we do our field, and our subjects, a disservice” (Nordhaus, 2011)

15. Neonics are major factor but there are a range of other contributing causes. To address CCD we should consider that there are multiple scenarios for CCD to develop. Causes are processural, emergent, with different and evolving contributing factors

17. Stable causality • Easier to replicate and verify causality • Applies across different settings • Neonicotinoids exemplify a stable causality • Sublethal chronic exposures lead to weakening of the colony and collapse • Target immediate regulation of neonics

18. Unstable causality • Contingency more important • Unique combination of sublethal exposures to pesticides, nutritional stress, parasites, and viruses lead to collapse • May not even be able to identify causes in some cases

19. Support for an unstable causality: current large-scale hive losses have historic precedents (Underwood and vanEngelsdorp, 2007)

20. Multiple types of CCD • If there is a range of causal situations, then there may be more than one type of CCD • In the winter of 2010-2011, the vast majority (>70%) of reported colony losses were not attributed to CCD, as most dead colonies were not missing bee cadavers in the hive or apiary —the hallmark symptom of CCD.

21. CCD is bad…. • Bee losses are unsustainable • Bee-dependent vegetables and fruits may become expensive or only available as imports • Loss of beekeeping culture

22. …but: • A greedy reductionist strategy, one where causality in singular and focuses only on mandatory regulation of neonics, obscures: • The importance of other animal pollinators besides honey bees • The longer-term decline in honey bees and broader issues about industrial agriculture • Our understanding of the relationships among bee decline, agriculture, and land use • Recognition of some of the benefits of a crisis, including the possibilities of adaptation

23. 1. Obscures the role of other animal pollinators • Three-quarters of global food crops rely on animal pollinators. • Honey bees are important pollinators for only a third of North American crops • Operation Pollinator at the University of Kentucky

24. 2. Masks the long-term decline in honey bees and the reasons • Current North American colony declines are part of a half-century of accumulating losses from • Day-to-day factors like parasites, diseases, and poor nutrition are greatest challenge to beekeepers • Cheaper honey produced in China, Argentina, and India sent bees overseas

28. International honey trade • Lower price undercuts American honey producers • Quality control an issue • Perpetuates many of the conditions that may be part of bee decline

29. International honey laundering

30. 3. Downplays feedbacks between bee decline, agricultural, and land use conversion • What is the next step in this sequence of events? • Demand for luxury crops • More farmers plant and grow these crops • Fewer bees and declining yields per acre • __________________________

31. 4. Overlooks some of the opportunities brought on by crisis • CCD has brought attention to bees and beekeeping • Beekeeping skills now being passed on to a younger generation

32. Helped developed commodity chains for fair trade and organic honey

33. Monofloral honeys often produced by local, artisanal beekeepers are sold at higher prices

34. The future? • Use of Africanized honey bees because of their disease resistance • Hand pollination of crops (42:26) • Robobees