colony collapse
Mass bee disappearance
Colony collapse is the sudden disappearance of most worker bees from a hive, leaving behind the queen and immature bees but few or no dead adults.
The full term is colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that has threatened honeybee populations since the mid-2000s.
Causes remain debated but likely include pesticides, parasites, and habitat loss: Beekeepers lost a third of their hives to colony collapse last year.
- pesticide exposureContact with bug-killing agents
- viral infectionsIllnesses caused by viruses
- emptyHolding nothing inside
- immune suppressionReduced defensive response capability
- lossBeing without something
honey production · queen · invasive species · Apis mellifera · worker bees · keystone species · agricultural chemicals · bees · comb · almond orchards · habitat loss · hive · silence · CCD · empty hive · honeybees · stillness · apiary
- beekeepingbeekeeping, apiculture, beehive, hive, apiary
- pollinator conservationbee conservation, honeybees, monarch migration, native bees, pollinator gardens
- social insectsworkers, queen, nest, brood, foragers
- Beekeeping Problemsstarvation, CCD, swarming, parasites, disease
- die-offsmass mortality, fish kill, mass extinction, population crash, winterkill
- beeshoneybee, bumblebee, honeybees, queen bee, worker bee