Acknowledgement of colony collapse disorder and alternative solutions

Bee Colony Collapse

John Smith, Environmental Defense Fund

Dear Mr. Smith, thank you for your thoughtful letter concerning the issues surrounding the "colony collapse" of honeybees. We are critically aware of this problem and we are searching for answers along with scientists, environmental experts, and others who recognize the vital role that honeybees play in the production of food in the United States and in the world.

However, at this time, we are not prepared to take a stand and announce that we will only purchase fruit from companies / farms that eschew the use of neonicotinoids. If it turns out that empirically proven research concludes that this pesticide indeed is the cause of the dramatic reduction in honeybee colonies, we will of course take the path that is most responsible in terms of our need to provide our jelly and jam consumers with the highest quality product at a fair and reasonable price.

Let me explain what we have been able to learn from peer-reviewed research that is available in scholarly databases.

A peer-reviewed article in PLoS Pathogens points out that "large-scale losses of honeybees have been recorded all over the world," and there is now a "general consensus" that there are many potential factors involved (Nazzi, et al., 2012). One possible explanation, the authors assert, may be that the interaction between "pathogens and other stress factors, including the parasitic mite (Varroa destructor)" (Nazzi, 1). That parasitic mite is known to be able to transmit "pathogenic viruses," and this mite has been linked to bee colony collapses, Nazzi explains on page 2 of the journal.

Another aspect of this problem is the parasitic mite's link to "Deformed wing virus (DWV)"; the DWV can be "vertically transmitted through the germ-line," which is then able to cause infections in the populations of honeybees (Nazzi, 1). The researchers set up two experimental bee colony locations, and for one they added "treatments (acaricide) to control mite infestation" and with the other they did not treat for mite control. During the summer the researchers observed "a decline of bee population" in all the colonies, but there was a "marked acceleration" of decline in the colony they did not treat for mite control.

Another scholarly research paper in PLoS looked into pesticides and viruses as possible causes of honeybee colony collapse. No definitive solution to this mystery was presented, but the authors said that "A significant correlation was found between the presence of fungicide residues and honeybee colony disorders" (Simon-Delso, et al., 2014). In fact the authors conclude that the role of fungicides "…as a potential stressor for honeybee colonies should be further studied…" (Simon-Delso, 1).

So, Mr. Smith, we have reviewed two scholarly research articles; one opened up the possibility that the honeybee colony collapse is caused by viruses (brought on by mites); the other reviewed the potential for the colony collapse to be caused by fungicide residues. There seems to be a very wide swath of opinion and research, and we are watching it closely.