Honey Bee Defenses

Abstract

Honey bees play a crucial role in the global agriculture industry. Their pollination is liable for crop values of over 15 billion dollars, but within the past century, honey bees have been plagued by a mysterious complication: Colony Collapse. Many different blights have become well known destroyers of hives across the globe, but little can be found as cause or a cure to the bizarre disorder. This daunting calamity is defined by a bee colony with no living adult bees and no carcasses in the hive; however, a living queen, growing larvae, and oftentimes adequate stores of honey are still present. No single scientific cause for Colony Collapse has yet been proven, so if the cause and cure cannot be found, what can be done to save the colonies? Centuries ago, the methods that bee keepers use today to treat bee hives were not available. How then did they manage to keep their bee hives alive? Through understanding hives, identifying bee behavioral patterns, and the cycles of certain attackers, the hives could be kept alive if these patterns were identified. While bee hives did not always survive, mostly due to generic issues or effects of winter, fewer harmful chemicals were used and crops were produced more naturally. Now, in the 20th century the bee care industry is battling the balanced use of chemicals wontedly distributed in-hive for mite prevention, and unwantedly in the urban and farmland ecosystems.