Colony Collapse Disorder - History

History

Limited occurrences resembling CCD have been documented as early as 1869 and this set of symptoms has, in the past several decades, been given many different names (disappearing disease, spring dwindle, May disease, autumn collapse, and fall dwindle disease). Most recently, a similar phenomenon in the winter of 2004/2005 occurred, and was attributed to Varroa mites (the "Vampire Mite" scare), though this was never ultimately confirmed. The cause of the appearance of this syndrome has never been determined. Upon recognition that the syndrome does not seem to be seasonally restricted, and that it may not be a "disease" in the standard sense—that there may not be a specific causative agent—the syndrome was renamed.

There was a well documented outbreak of colony losses spreading from the Isle of Wight to the rest of the UK in 1906. These losses later were attributed to a combination of factors including adverse weather, intensive apiculture leading to inadequate forage, and a new infection, the chronic bee paralysis virus; but, at the time, the cause of this agricultural beekeeping problem was similarly mysterious and unknown.

Reports show this behavior in hives in the US in 1918 and 1919. Coined "Mystery Disease" by some, it eventually became more widely known as "Disappearing Disease". Oertel, in 1965, reported that hives afflicted with Disappearing Disease in Louisiana had plenty of honey in the combs although there were few or no bees, discrediting reports that attributed the disappearances to lack of food.

From 1972 to 2006, dramatic reductions continued in the number of feral honey bees in the U.S. and a significant though somewhat gradual decline in the number of colonies maintained by beekeepers. This decline includes the cumulative losses from all factors, such as urbanization, pesticide use, tracheal and Varroa mites, and commercial beekeepers' retiring and going out of business. However, in late 2006 and early 2007, the rate of attrition was alleged to have reached new proportions, and the term "colony collapse disorder" began to be used to describe this sudden rash of disappearances (sometimes referred to as Spontaneous Hive Collapse or the Mary Celeste Syndrome in the United Kingdom).

Losses had remained stable since the 1990s at 17%–20% per year attributable to a variety of factors, such as mites, diseases, and management stress. The first report of CCD was in mid-November 2006 by a Pennsylvania beekeeper overwintering in Florida. By February 2007, large commercial migratory beekeepers in several states had reported heavy losses associated with CCD. Their reports of losses varied widely, ranging from 30% to 90% of their bee colonies; in some cases beekeepers reported loss of nearly all of their colonies with surviving colonies so weakened that they might no longer be viable to pollinate or produce honey.

Losses were reported in migratory operations wintering in California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas. In late February, some larger non-migratory beekeepers in the mid-Atlantic and Pacific Northwest regions also reported significant losses of more than 50%. Colony losses also were reported in five Canadian provinces, several European countries, and countries in South and Central America and Asia. In 2010, the USDA reported that data on overall honey bee losses for 2010 indicated an estimated 34 percent loss, which is statistically similar to losses reported in 2007, 2008, and 2009.