WELCOME TO THE SEMINAR 2019-20

SERIES
 CCD: A Serious Threat in Beekeeping
Industry

Speaker
Mr. Digvijaysinh H. Padhiyar
Department of Entomology
3rd Semester, M.Sc. (Agri.)
Reg. No. - 2010118078
Major Guide Co-Guide
Dr. S. R. Patel Dr. G. B. Chopada
Assistant Professor Assistant Professor
Department of Entomology Department of Plant Pathology
N.M. College of Agriculture, Navsari N.M. College of Agriculture, Navsari
2
• Honey bees are considered as keystone
species because of the significant role
they play in supporting various
ecosystem through their massive
pollination service .
• In now a days honey bees have been
disappearing in large number across the
globe due to various reasons.
• Why this is so happen?

3
 Productive Insect

Lac Insect Silk worm Honey bee

4
Caste system of honey bee colony 5
TAXONOMIC CLASSIFICATION OF HONEY BEES

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 Various major species of honey bees
Rock bee (Apis dorsata Fabricius)
• It is the largest of the honey bees also known
as Giant bee.
• In India it is generally found in plains as well
as hills.
• It build an open single comb of huge size
about a meter in diameter, which is attached to
the branches of the trees or rock.
• Due to its ferocious nature and strong tendency
to swarming, it can’t domesticate.
• It produce plenty of honey and the annual yield
from a colony is about 40 kg.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 7

 Little bee (Apis florea Fabricius)
• It is smallest of the four species of Apis.
• It also build single but small combs on
bushy plants and corners of roofs.
• Generally it is found in plains.
• They are gentle in temperament, but do
sting when irritated.
• It have strong tendency to swarming.
• It yields very little honey, about 0.5 to 1 kg
per year from a colony and so, it is not
domesticated and reared.
• The honey produced by Apis florea is
belived to have a special medicinal
qualities.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 8

 Indian bee (Apis cerena indica Fabricius)
• It is the larger than little bee but smaller than
rock bee.
• It is the base of Indian beekeeping.
• It build many parallel combs in the cavities
and hollows of the trees, caves and other
hidden sites.
• It is mild and capable of being domesticated
and is commonly reared in India.
• It have strong tendency to swarming.
• The annual yield of the honey is 2 to 5 kg per
colony.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 9

 Italian bee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus)
• It is very closely similar to A. cerena indica in
structure.
• It is considered to be the most productive among
the honey bee species.
• The origin of this species is Europe and Africa and
now it is found throughout the world.
• It also build many parallel combs in the cavities
and hollows of the trees in shady place, caves and
other hidden sites.
• Generally it is gentle in nature and low tendency to
swarming.
• In India, it was introduced in 1960s in some parts
of the country specially Punjab, Jammu and
Kashmir and Maharashtra.
• It yield about 30 to 40 kg of honey per colony per
year. 10
Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender
 Dammer bee (Tetragonula laeviceps Dal.)

• It is also known as Stingless bee.

• The dammer bee is tiny with a vestigial sting
and is different from the four species in
appearance and habits.
• They build irregular combs made up of a
cluster of bulbs containing honey and pollen.
• It inhabits cervices in walls and hollow trunks
of trees.
• The combs are made up of earthy, resin and
wax in the ground hollows of trees, bamboos,
cracks of walls etc.
• It is very poor honey gatherer and yields only
60 to 180 ml honey per colony per year.
• Its honey is used in ayurvedic medicine.
Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 11
 What is Bee keeping?

• Beekeeping or Apiculture is the science of the rearing of the honey

bee colonies in the man made hive, by the human.
• A beekeeper is the person who keeps bees in order to collect the
honey and other products produce by the bees such as bees wax,
propolis, bee pollen and royal jelly.
• Other than bee products honey bees also play a major role in
pollination of the various crops.

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Product and Service of Honey bee

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 Table 1: The monetary value of honey bees as commercial pollinators in the United States
Proportion of Value
Crop Category Attributed to
Dependence on Insect Pollinators Major
(ranked by share of honey bee pollinator Honey Bees
Pollination That Are Producing States
value)
Honey Bees ($ millions)
Alfalfa, hay & seed 100% 60% 4,654.2 CA, SD, ID, WI
Apples 100% 90% 1,352.3 WA, NY, MI, PA
Almonds 100% 100% 959.2 CA
Citrus 20%-80% 10%-90% 834.1 CA, FL, AZ, TX
Cotton (lint & seed) 20% 80% 857.7 TX, AR, GA, MS
Soybeans 10% 50% 824.5 IA, IL, MN, IN
Onions 100% 90% 661.7 TX, GA, CA, AZ
Broccoli 100% 90% 435.4 CA
Carrots 100% 90% 420.7 CA, TX
Sunflower 100% 90% 409.9 ND, SD
Cantaloupe 80% 90% 350.9 CA, WI, MN, WA
Other fruits & nuts 10%-90% 10%-90% 1,633.4 —
Other vegetables/melons 70%-100% 10%-90% 1,099.2 —
Other field crops 10%-100% 20%-90% 70.4 —
Total — — 14,564 —
CA = California WI = Wisconsin MI = Michigan AZ = Arizona GA = Georgia IL = Illinois ND = North Dakota SD = South Dakota WA = Washington
PA = Pennsylvania TX = Texas MS = Mississippi MN = Minnesota ID = Idaho NY = New York FL = Florida AR = Arkansas IA = Iowa IN = Indiana

Johnson, R. (2010). Honey bee colony collapse disorder, Congressional Research Service, 14
15
 Bee Colony Losses

• Honey bee colony losses are common.

• A report of National Research Council of U.S. suggest that honey bee population losses
is due to bee pests, parasite and pathogens.
• The most notable are decline due to two parasitic mites, the Vampire mite and the
Tracheal mite and also due to the pathogen Paenibacillus spp.
• Other reason for the colony losses reported by NRC include habitat losses, bee genetics
and pesticides.
• Varroa mites are also said to have eliminated most feral bee colonies in the mid-1990s.
• The pathogen Paenibacillus spp. is the most serious honey bee pathogen and causes
American foulbrood (AFB), which is a disease of larval honey bees. AFB resulted in
large colony losses in the 1940s, but its incidence has been reduced by the use of
antibiotics and increased apiary inspection programs.
• MAAREC also reports that large beekeeper operations may have experienced higher
than normal losses compared with the past few years, and heavy overwintering losses
were reported in 2003-2004 for many northern beekeepers.
16
Johnson, R. (2010). Honey bee colony collapse disorder, Congressional Research Service,
 Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

• Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon in which workers bees abruptly disappear

from the beehive.
• CCD first identified in 2006 in Florida by commercial beekeeper when the vast
majority of bees in any given colony generally worker bees disappear unexpectedly.
As the queen bee needs nectar provided by these workers to nurse bee, ultimately the
entire colony collapse.

Figure 1 : Total colony loss observed in different state 17

 History of CCD

• In mid-November 2006, a Pennsylvania beekeeper first observed bee losses in Florida

associated with CCD.
• 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 feared loss of nearly all of their colonies.
• Surviving colonies were reportedly weakened and 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
Northeast regions also reported significant losses of more than 50%.
• Bee colony losses also were reported in five Canadian provinces, several European
countries, and countries in South and Central America.
18
Johnson, R. (2010). Honey bee colony collapse disorder, Congressional Research Service,
 Symptoms of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
• Rapid loss of adult worker bees from the affected colonies.
• Few or no dead bees found in the hive.
• Only small cluster of bees with a live queen present.
• Pollen and honey stores in the hive.

Healthy Colony CCD affected Colony

Johnson, R. (2010). Honey bee colony collapse disorder, Congressional Research Service, 19
How CCD differs from Past Bee Colony Losses?
• In CCD Bees are failing to return to the hive.
• Colony losses have been rapid.
• Colony losses are occurring in large number.
• Reason for the colony losses are still unknown.

Johnson, R. (2010). Honey bee colony collapse disorder, Congressional Research Service, 20
21
Johnson, R. (2010). Honey bee colony collapse disorder, Congressional Research Service, 22
23
 Enemies and Diseases of Honey bee
• Living socially, make the bees vulnerable to pathogens due to
close and extensive social interactions among individuals.
• The presence of honey and beeswax in the hive attracts a number
of enemies.
• Some feed honey, other on wax and still others on bees.
• These Enemies and diseases can create serious problem to the
beekeepers.

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 Bee Enemies
Wax Moth: Greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella)
• Important Lepidopteran pest.
• The wax moth larvae tunnel through the
midrib of the comb, eating the wax, the
pollen residue and the cocoons left by the
emerging adult bees.
• They prefer to attack on the older, darker
comb.
• Its attack is more prevalent in the
monsoon.
• They destroy the comb, leaving behind
webbed masses of excrement and bits of
wax.
Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 25
 Parasitic mites
Varroa mite (Varroa jacobsoni)
• It is the external parasite of the honey bees
mainly feed on the haemolymph of the bee.
• It attacked on both brood and adult, attacked
brood either dies or results in deformed adult.
• This mite develops and reproduce in to the sealed
brood cells of the honey bees.
• Parasitism can result in to the loss of adult
weight, severe deformations of the wings and
reduce longevity of the worker and drone honey
bees.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 26

 Tracheal Mite: (Acarapis woodi)
• It is the internal parasite of the honey bees mainly
infests the tracheal system of the honey bees.
• Adult bees, queens, workers and drones all are equally
susceptible to its attack.
• The life cycle take place in the trachea of the honey
bees.
• The nymphs and adults pierce the breathing tube wall
with their mouthparts and suck the haemolymph and
interfere with the oxygen exchange in the breathing
tubes.
• Due to the infestation, sick bees are unable to fly, crawl
away with fluttering wings and show sign of dysentery.
• Hind wings show ‘K’ winged condition.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 27

 Other bee enemies
Predatory wasp, Vespa spp.
•The wasp catch the bees at hive entrance and kill them.
Bee louse, Braula coeca
• A small, wingless fly which lives on bees is common in some areas.
•This fly only lives on the bee; it is not a parasite. It feeds on bits of
pollen on the bee and on glandular secretions from the bee.
•Braula are especially attracted to queens. The number of individual
flies is usually small and they do little damage.

Bee hive Beetle

•These hive beetles feed on the stored pollen.
•Generally, the only damage is in weak colonies where the beetle
larvae are allowed to burrow through the comb.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 28

 Diseases of honey bees
Bacterial Diseases
American Foul Brood Disease:
• Cause by the bacteria: Paenibacillus larvae
• The disease mainly affected to the workers bee,
rarely on the drone and queen.
• This disease results in the death of the larvae, pre
pupal stage and occasionally of pupae in the
sealed cells.
• In affected hive, cell capping are sunken,
punctured and discolored.
• Dead larvae are dull, white and watery changing
to brown stage.
• Affected colony give a distinct fish like odor.
Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 29
 European Foul Brood Diseases
• Cause by bacteria: Streptococcus pluton
• The disease mainly affected to the worker bees along
with drone and queen.
• Slightly yellow or grey discoloration and uneasy
movement of larva in the cell is the indication of this
disease.
• The larva losses it well rounded opaque appearance
and become slightly translucent.
• Later on the larva die in unsealed cells when they are
only 4-5 days old.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 30

 Fungal Disease
Chalk brood disease
•Cause by Ascosphaera apis
•Infected larvae swell to fill the cell as the fungal
mycelia grow.
•At early, mycelia is soft and has yeasty smell.
•Later on the dries into hard, whitish mummy which
look like a piece of chalk, hence the name chalk brood.
•Mainly this disease is observed on the unsealed brood
and rarely on adult bees.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 31

 Viral Disease

Thai Sac disease

Thai sac brood virus
•Mostly affected to the late larval stages of the workers.
•Cell capping are sunken and punctured often with two
holes.
•Dead larvae is grayish to straw in color with head and
thorax usually darker.
•The whole larva is pulled out easily like a sac if drawn
out with the help of forceps.
•No particular foul odor observed in this case.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 32

 Protozoan Disease

Nosema disease
•Cause by Nosema apis.
•It is an obligatory intracellular parasite.
•Sick bees have slightly swollen abdomen.
•Shorter life cycle of the bees.
•Queen bee stops laying or laid egg do not hatch and
ultimately die after few weeks.
•The water content is higher than the normal bees.

Source: A Handbook of Beekeeping by S. Dharm and S. P. Devender 33

 Parasite and
Pathogen Relation
to CCD

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 Table 2: Analysis of pools of bees tested for candidate pathogen
Positive
CCD Non CCD Total Sensitivity
Agents Predictive
(n=30) (n=21) (n=51) (%)
value (%)
IAPV
25 (83.3%) 1 (4.8%) 26 (51.0%) 96.1 83.3
(Israeli acute paralysis virus)
KBV
30 (100%) 16 (76.2%) 46 (90.2%) 65.2 100
(Kashmir bee virus)
N. apis 27 (90%) 10 (47.6%) 37 (72.5%) 73.0 90.0
N. ceranae 30 (100%) 17 (80.9%) 47 (92.1%) 63.8 100
All four agents 23 (76.7) 0 (0%) 23 (45.0%) 100 76.7

Numbers in the CCD, Non CCD, and Total columns represent the percentage of samples found to be positive among all
samples tested in each category.
Positive Predictive Value: Positive predictive value represents the probability that a positive result for a given agent is
associated with CCD.
Sensitivity: Sensitivity is the probability that test results will be positive in all CCD cases.

United State Diana et al. (2007) 35

 Figure 2: Potential causes of colony loss as reported by beekeepers
Israel Soroker et al. (2010) 36
 Table 3: Viral Incidence in the affected colony

Sr. Relative frequency of detected viruses*

Viruses tested
No. % of hives tested (n=71)

1 Black queen cell virus (BQCV) 62

2 Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) 35
3 Deformed wing virus (DWV) 23
4 Varroa derived virus 1 (VaDV-1) 10
5 Sacbrood virus (SBV) 4
6 Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) <1
7 Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) <1
*The total sum is above 100% since many hives are infested with more than one virus.

Israel Soroker et al. (2010) 37

 Table 4: Proportion of detectable level of pathogen from CCD affected colony

Sr.
Season Status Colonies DWV (%) BQCV (%) ABPV (%) SBV (%) SPV (%) N. ceranae (%)
No.

DC 13 61.5 84.6 7.7 15.4 0 38.5

1 Summer
SC 16 56.3 87.5 0 43.8 0 31.3

DC 13 100 53.8 7.7 0 15.4 30.8

2 Fall
SC 16 93.8 50 0 0 18.8 50
DC 13 100 100 0 7.7 23.1 38.5
3 Winter
SC 16 100 93.8 0 25 0 18.8

DC = Dying Colony, SC = Surviving Colony

DWV= Dwarf Wing Virus SBV= Sac Brood Virus
BQCV= Black Queen Cell Virus SPV= Slow Paralysis Virus
ABPV= Acute Bee Paralysis Virus

South Africa Dainat et al. (2012) 38

 Table 5: Result of honey bee pathogen screening on sample for collapsing colony
Sample Information Viruses Parasite

Sr. Sample V. A. N.
Apiary Location BQCV DWV LSV ALPV Trypanosomatids Neogregarines N. apis
No. ID destructor Woodi ceranae

1 55 1 Guadalajara 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2 56 1 Guadalajara 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3 57 1 Guadalajara 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
4 58 1 Guadalajara 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
5 59 1 Guadalajara 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
6 1980 2 Vizcaya 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
7 324 3 Murcia 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
8 325 3 Murcia 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
9 328 3 Murcia 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
10 329 3 Murcia 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 = Not Detected, 1 = Detected
BQCV= Black Queen Cell Virus, LSV= Lake Sinai Virus
DWV= Deformed Wing Virus, ALPV= Aphid Lethal Paralysis Virus

Spain Cepero et al. (2014) 39

 Table 6: Bee pathogen, Main type of stored pollen and presence of micro pollutants in CCD affected apiaries

Main type of pollen in stored

Bee Pathogen Micro pollutants in stored pollen
pollen
Toxicity to
Apiary Main pathogens Virus Pesticide Mean (µg kg-1) Taxon %
bees
1 N. ceranae DWV Fluvalinatea 125 (s.d. 96.1) VNTb Castanea 84 (s.d. 3.1)
z-chlorfenvinphos 16 (s.d. 8.3) HTc Rubus 6 (s.d. 0.4)
Leguninoseae 5 (s.d. 1.1)
2 N. ceranae No Fluvalinatea 225 (s.d. 119) VNTb Cruciferae 60 (s.d. 28.1)
Cichorioideae 20 (s.d. 19.5)
Lavandula latifolia 15 (s.d. 3)
a. Mean of the two isomers.
b. Classification of toxicity based on DL50 (mg bee-1 ) from Johansen and Mayer (1990).
c. Classification of toxicity based on DL50 (mg bee-1 ) from the pesticide manual (Tomlin, 1997).
>100: virtually non-toxic (VNT)
11–100: slightly toxic (ST)
2–10.99: moderately toxic (MT)
< 2: highly toxic (HT)
DWV = Deformed wing Virus

Spain Higes et al. (2018) 40

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj2vNnUrPjlAhVKso8KHadeDJkQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fentnemdept.ufl.edu%2Fcreatures%2FMIS
C%2FBEES%2FApocephalus_borealis.htm&psig=AOvVaw2lltBTHXBew5biSY9oMUhJ&ust=1574324155635183

41
 :

Figure 3: Infection Percentage (%) of Phorid Fly Larvae per Worker in Different Locations in Egypt
42
Egypt Khattab et al. (2014)
 Figure A: Maggot of Phorid fly Figure B: Pupa of Phorid fly

Phorid fly maggot observed at junction

of head and thorax

Figure C: Emerging of Phorid Fly Figure D: Adult of Phorid Fly

from pupa

Figure 4: Different stages of Phorid fly observed on Honey bee collected sample
43
Egypt Khattab et al. (2014)
 Rates of parasitism for
bees sampled from April
2009 through November
2010. Black solid line
shows rates in stranded
bees from under lights on
the San Francisco State
University campus, while
the pink dashed line
shows rates in foraging
bees.

Figure 5: Seasonal Parasitism of honey bee by phorid fly

Egypt Core et al. (2014) 44
 Pesticide Poisoning

• Neonicotinoids are used to control crop and ornamental plant pests such as aphids or
leaf beetles, structural pests like termites and pests of domesticated animals such as
fleas.
• However, because these chemicals are systemic and absorbed into plant tissues,
insects that rely on nectar, pollen, or other floral resources have increased oral
exposure to residues of neonicotinoids or their metabolites.
• The failure of foraging bees to return to their hives has led many people to suggest
that a link exists between CCD and the behavioral disruption observed with
sub-lethal exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides
• Insecticide exposure may interact with other factors such as viruses or parasites to
weaken colony health and increase susceptibility to CCD.
45
Source: Chelsea, G.Colony Collapse Disorder: The Vanishing Honey bee
46
 Exposure

Exposure

Figure 6: Combine effect of pesticides and living parasites in CCD of honey bee
47
Australia Francisco et al. (2016)
 Table 7: Toxicity of different neonicotinoid insecticides to honey bees, Apis mellifera

Sr. No. Neonicotinoid Level Known toxicity to honey bees (Apis mellifera)
Contact LD50 (μg/ bee) Oral LD50 (μg/ bee)
1 Acetamiprid M 7.1– 8.09 8.85 – 14.52
2 Clothianidin H 0.022– 0.044 0.00379
3 Dinotefuran H 0.024– 0.061 0.0076 – 0.023
4 Imidacloprid H 0.0179– 0.243 0.0037 – 0.081
5 Thiacloprid M 14.6– 38.83 8.51 – 17.3
6 Thiamethoxam H 0.024– 0.029 0.005
H= Highly toxic; M = Moderately toxic
Toxicity: Highly toxic: LD50 < 2 μg/ bee; Moderately toxic: LD50 2-10.99 μg/ bee
Slightly toxic: LD50 11-100 μg/ bee; Practically non toxic: LD50 > 100 μg/ bee

Nadia, West Bengal Roy et al. (2018) 48

 Genetic loss

• The lack of genetic diversity is another factor contributing to CCD.

• Recently the commercial bee keeping industry depend on only about 500 breeder queens to
produce the millions of queens used to start colonies, which can be seen as a “genetic
bottleneck” .
• Even the honeybees have numerous defense against parasites and pathogens, the shortage of
genetic diversity may be causing honeybees to become more susceptible to disease.
• However, for a colony to be resilient to pathogens and to overcome times of infection, it
requires a high level of genetic variation.
• During mating flights, a queen will mate with an average of 12 drones, which is among the
highest levels of polyandry in social insects, and this genetic variability is reflected in the
gene base of her workers.

49
Source: Chelsea, G.Colony Collapse Disorder: The Vanishing Honey bee
 Malnutrition

• For an efficient rearing of the healthy bees; a good mix of pollen is required as diet.
• In general in U.S. hives are moves from west in the spring, for almond crop to North
and East in Summer for other crop.
• This transportation put strain on the honey bee immune system.
• Most of the bees used for commercial pollination are placed in the areas where only
one, or perhaps just a few, pollens are available. Also many commercial beekeepers
that transport their bees long distances to pollinate crops use high fructose corn syrup
to feed their bees during their travel.
• These food source, however are not the best replacements for the enzyme and nutrient
rich raw honey and pollen that normally make up a bee’s diet. These diet supplements
will increase bee numbers, but bees are not as nutritionally well fed and
physiologically robust as are bees that have been living on a mix pollen diet.
50
Source: Chelsea, G.Colony Collapse Disorder: The Vanishing Honey bee
 Transportation

• Due to modern industrialization agriculture, lead to expansion in the cultivation of

pollinators dependent crops result in to high demand for pollination service.
• As different pollinators dependent crops are grown at different region, there is a requirement
of honey bees for pollination.
• Western honey bees are considered one of the most valuable agricultural pollinators because
they can be transported easily with relatively little maintenance.
• Increased transportation of hives and poor nutrition has been known to cause increased
problems for bees.
• Honey bees are often loaded on to eighteen wheel flatbed trucks for days and are shipped
through a range of time zones causing their immune systems to be compromised which lead
to easily affected by biotic factors and abiotic factors lead to decline in population of bees.

51
Source: Chelsea, G.Colony Collapse Disorder: The Vanishing Honey bee
 Table 8: Changes in colony status of Apis mellifera exposed to cellphone radiations
Parameter Control (mean ± SD) Treated ( 15 minute exposure) (mean ± SD)

Bee strength
Start 7 frame 7 frame
End 9 frame 5 frame
Brood (cm2)
Total brood
Start 2033.76 ± 182.6 (7-532) 2866.43 ± 169.0 (0-574)
End 1975.44 ± 138.8 (0-427) 0760.19 ± 111.0 (0-348)
Prolificacy (egg laying rate/day)
Start 387.24 545.9
End 376.20 144.8
Honey stores (cm2) 3200 400
Pollen stores (cm2)
Start 230.5 ± 21.60 (198-305) 218.2 ± 17.48 (141-241)
End 246.7 ± 16.94 (195-289) 154.7 ± 7.30 (142-168)

53
Chandigarh, Punjab Sharma and Neelima (2010)
Figure 7: Experimental colony showing placement of mobile phones 53
 Table 9: Changes in foraging behavior of Apis mellifera exposed to cellphone radiations
Control (mean ± Treated ( 15 minute exposure) (mean ±
Parameter SD) SD)

Flight Activity
(No. of workers bees leaving the hive
entrance/min)
Before exposure 35.9 ± 13 (12–61) 34.1 ± 10 (18–48)
During exposure 37.2 ± 12 (12–72) 22.8 ± 6 (13–34)
Returning ability
(No. of worker bees returning to the hive/min)
Before exposure 39.6 ± 13 (12–61) 36.4 ± 11 (21–58)
During exposure 41.3 ± 11 (14–78) 28.3 ± 8 (16–48)
Pollen foraging efficiency
(No. of worker bees returning with pollen
loads/min)
Before exposure 7.0 ± 2 (4–9) 6.3 ± 2 (4–10)
During exposure 7.2 ± 2 (4–11) 4.6 ± 2 (2–7)
55
Chandigarh, Punjab Sharma and Neelima (2010)
 Table 10: Change in colony status of honeybees, Apis mellifera exposed to mobile phones
Parameter Control (mean ± SD) Treated (10 min. exposure for 10 days)
Number of worker bees leaving the hive entrance / minute
Before exposure 40.7±15 38.2±12
During exposure 41.5±14 18.5±13
After exposure 42.4±14 Nil
Returning Ability
Before exposure 42.5±15 39.5±14
During exposure 43.6±14 15.6±13
After exposure 44.6±13 Nil
Bee strength
Before exposure 9 frame 9 frame
During exposure 9 frame 5 frame
After exposure 9 frame 1 frame
Egg laying rate of queen / day
Before exposure 365.25 355.10
During exposure 362.15 198.60
After exposure 350.15 100
56
Kollam, Kerala Sainudeen (2011)
 CONCLUSION
• It can be concluded that the loss incurred by beekeeping industry is depend on multiple factors
mainly through abiotic and biotic along with some unknown factors.
• In case of biotic, virus like BQCV (62%) is predominantly associated with CCD followed by
parasites like Nosema ceranae and IAPV found in large numbers followed by Nosema apis,
Trypanosomatids shown its presence in CCD and parasitoids like phorid fly found devastating in
August to October on honey bee colonies.
• Chemicals like z-chlorfenviphos and among neonicotinoids, clothionidin, denitofeuron,
imidacloprid, thiamethoxam were highly toxic to honey bees and shown positive assurance towards
CCD.
• Low genetic variation make bees susceptible for pest and disease and colony losses observed.
• Malnutrition and Transportation also contribute in CCD by reducing the immune system of bees.
• Cell phone radiation distracts bee colonies drastically by interrupting life cycle parameters (egg
laying capacity) and colony building behavior (flight capacity, return to colony and pollen carrying
capacity) in honey bees and finally it nullifies colony by reducing foraging capacity in case of Apis
mellifera.
• So for appropriate management is necessary to overcome honey bee loss caused by CCD.
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 “IF BEES WERE TO DISAPPEAR FROM THE GLOBE,
MANKIND WOULD ONLY HAVE FOUR YEARS LEFT TO
LIVE.”
-ALBERT EINSTEIN

Thank you
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