UNEP: The Question of Bee Colony Collapse Disorder Cambridge Model United Nations 2018

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1 Study Guide Committee: United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Topic: The Question of Bee Colony Collapse Disorder Introduction: Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has occurred and been identified by various names throughout history, but was renamed CCD in 2006, due to a notable rise in the number of reported disappearances of honey bee colonies in North America and much of Europe. Although many possible causes of CCD have been identified, no single explanation has gained widespread approval, and indeed a combination of factors may increase susceptibility to collapse. Such suggested factors include pesticides, pathogens, mites, lack of genetic diversity, climate change, changing beekeeping practices, and loss of habitat. The greatest economic impact of honey bees is not in fact their honey, but the pollination services they provide, and indeed beekeepers often earn more money by renting out pollination services than by collecting honey. According to a UN Environment Programme report, 70% of the world s top 100 staple food crops are reliant on honey bee pollination. Definition of Key Terms: Bee Colony: Close association of bees, which in honeybees typically comprises a single queen, hundreds of drones, and tens of thousands of worker bees, along with developing eggs, larvae, and pupae. These ratios and amounts can vary seasonally. Bee Nest: Structure that is naturally occuring or built by bees, in which bees live and raise their young. Beehive: Man made structure in which honey bees live and raise their young. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD): Phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, capped brood (immature bees), a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen, and plenty of food stores (that is not robbed by other bees, and that hive pests noticeably delay attack). 1

2 Pesticides: Substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals. Neonicotinoids: Class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine, that affect the central nervous system of insects, leading to paralysis and death. Insect mediated pollination: regulating ecosystem service involving transfer of pollen to a stigma, ovule, flower, or plant to allow fertilization, facilitated by insects. Queen bee / Queen: single reproductive female bees that can live for several years, and lays thousands of eggs over her life. Also secretes a pheromone which inhibits sexual development of workers and helps to attract drones to mate with. Born from fertilised egg, and fed on royal jelly throughout larval stage of development. Worker bees / Workers: non reproductive female bees that perform jobs such as ensuring hive is clean, caring for larvae and queen, guarding the hive, and gathering food, dependent on age. Born from fertilised egg, initially fed on royal jelly, then switched onto bee bread in larval stage of development. Drone bees / Drones: male bees, whose purpose is to reproduce with queen bee. Born from unfertilised eggs, and so only possess one set of chromosomes. Migratory Beekeeping: the moving of colonies of bees from one locality to another during a single season to take advantage of two or more honey flows. It is a crucial element of agriculture in the USA, providing pollination services. Note: Bee will be used to refer to members of the domesticated Western honey bee species, Apis mellifera, unless otherwise stated. Contextual Information: Many crops depend on pollination, and pollination services are provided by wild organisms including bees, butterflies, moths, and flies, beetles, bats, birds, and commercially managed honey bee species, most notably the domesticated Western honey bee, Apis mellifera. Some crops necessitate insect mediated pollination for fruit production, while many crops produce 2

3 bigger and better shaped fruits when well pollinated, and increased insect mediated pollination can also reduce time between flowering and fruit bearing, which reduces the exposure of the fruit to disease, pests, agro-chemicals, and also reduces water usage. In fact, certain crops can have a 90% decreased yield in the absence of honey bees as pollinators. Between 2006 and 2013, over 10 million bee hives were lost, which is around double the normal rate of loss. However, not all hives lost can be attributed to CCD (see criteria above), for example if the queen is not present, then the hive died because it was queenless, not due to CCD, and winter death rates of hives is generally around 20%, and these typically are not attributed to CCD. Various potential causes of CCD have been identified, but as no single factor appears to have enough of an effect to explain CCD, current scientific consensus is that multiple factors in combination could result in CCD. A review of 170 studies, published in 2015 in the journal Science, concluded it is likely that current bee health problems can be attributed to the interaction between parasites, pesticides, and diet, and that each stressor that bees encounter reduces their ability to cope with other stressors, so the stressors interact synergistically. Commercial beekeeping and artificial selection for desired traits has led to a reduction of genetic diversity, resulting in an increased risk of heritable and infectious diseases, and reduced ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Pesticides, including nicotinoids, may not kill bees outright, but may affect their behaviour, development, and resistance to other environmental stressors, ie they may have sub-lethal effects. Neonicotinoids are typically applied as a seed treatment, and are then incorporated within the plant tissues, including the nectar, as opposed to a surface treatment where the pesticides are sprayed onto the plant surface, with comparatively short term effects. Furthermore, runoff, leaching, and insufficient cleaning of equipment may result in pesticides being incorporated in non target plants. 3

4 Research has suggested many effects of neonicotinoids on bees, including impaired homing ability, flight and foraging activity, communication, memory, olfactory discrimination, and immune suppression. Bees are also affected by parasites, which can directly harm the bees e.g. by feeding on them, or indirectly by acting as a disease vector. Mites of the Varroa genus, including Varroa destructor, are highly destructive to honey bee colonies. They carry viruses including deformed wing virus and acute bee paralysis virus, they weaken the immune system of bees, affect the queen s ability to reproduce, and consume the hemolymph (a fluid equivalent to blood) of all types and castes of honey bees. However, not all dying colonies contain these mites. Furthermore, miticides used to protect colonies against Varroa mites may themselves lead to immunosuppression and reduced longevity of the bees. Bees may be further impacted by climate change, and in particular an increase in the frequency and and extent of extreme weather events, such as prolonged drought and intense precipitation. For example when it rains, bees do not leave their nest, and when it is hot they collect water to bring back to the nest to cool it down, so changes in weather change colony behaviour. More indirectly, pollen is washed away by rain, unpredictable weather patterns can stunt flower development and nectar production, or change flowering times, and global warming may lead to reduction of suitable habitat. Migratory beekeeping has become more popular in the last century, particularly in the USA, where it is a vital part of agriculture. This involves moving bees around between regions requiring pollination, and regions offering favourable climatic conditions during winter. This means that crops are pollinated (natural pollinators are not numerous enough to sufficiently pollinate the crops), the beekeeper makes more profit, and bee losses over winter should be lower. However, as described above this practice may increase the risk of transmission of parasites and diseases between colonies. Additionally, the pollen and nectar that the bees feed on is from a monoculture crop, which does not provide the wide variety of nutrients required for full health and immunity, and furthermore migration between different crops treated with different pesticides increases the risk of synergistic interactions between pesticides, and subsequently greater effects on the colony. 4

5 The process of transportation can be highly stressful to the bees, for example the sounds of vehicles, high heat, poor ventilation, lack of water, and the mixed signals of temperature, daylight hours, humidity, and flower types. Honeybees provide important pollinating services for many staple crops, and thus have a large economic impact: of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of the world's food, more than 70 are pollinated by bees, contributing around $200bn a year to the global economy. Therefore, understanding and preventing colony collapse disorder is vital. Major Countries and Organisations Involved: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation. UN Agency with 194 member states, leading international efforts to combat world hunger. USA - United States of America. Suffering high losses of bee colonies due to suspected CCD, however many crops are highly dependent on migratory hives, e.g. California almond crop. There are few restrictions on pesticides, and migratory beekeeping methods are commonly practiced. USDA ARS - United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service. Seeks to enhance bee health and improve bee management practices by studying honey bee diseases and parasites, and how best to control them. Cooperate with other federal agencies, state departments of agriculture, universities, and private companies. EU - European Union. Many member states, including France, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland, experiencing losses due to suspected CCD, but also losses due to known parasites and weather conditions. Regulate pesticide use and advise on agricultural practices in member states. EFSA - European Food Safety Authority. EU agency providing independent scientific advice on matters involving the safety of food and the food chain. COLOSS - The Prevention of Honey Bee COLony LOSSes. Established International European-funded network of 1047 members from 95 countries. Main objectives are to explain and prevent large scale losses of colonies, develop standards for monitoring and researching 5

6 losses, identify underlying factors and mechanisms, and develop emergency measures and sustainable management strategies. BEE DOC - BEes in Europe and the Decline Of Colonies. Established Network of 11 academic institutions from 9 European countries. Focus on honey bee pathology, interactions between pathogens, and identification of novel genes for disease resistance. STEP - Status and Trends of European Pollinators. Established Focus on loss of pollinators across insects, including honey bees, bumble bees, and solitary bees ALARM - Assessing Large-scale Environmental Risks for Biodiversity with Tested Methods. Established European network of 54 partners from 26 countries. Develop and test methods for assessing large-scale environmental risks and seek to minimise the human effect on European biodiversity and ecosystems. One branch seeks to estimate the impact of pollinator populations on European agriculture and the economy. Timeline of Events: Date: 2002 Event: Establishment of Plan of Action of the International Pollinators Initiative (IPI), consisting of Assessment, Adaptive Management, Capacity Building, and Mainstreaming. Date: 2008 Event: Environmental Food Standards Authority (EFSA) reported 40-50% mortality rate in Italy, and British Beekeepers Association reported the bee population in United Kingdom dropped by around 30%. However, prior to increase in mortality rate, no standardisation of how different countries collected and reported information regarding bee populations, so low reliability of data. EFSA report concluded that high bee mortality due to varroa mite, two seasons of unusually wet European summers, and pesticides. Date: 2013 Event: European Commision banned insecticide produced by Syngenta for use on crops pollinated by bees. Syngenta and Bayer challenged this ban in court. Date: 2015 Event: Former US President Barack Obama unveiled first national strategy for improving health of bees and other key pollinators, calling for the restoration of 7 million acres of bee habitat, and proposing spending $82.5 million on honey bee research. 6

7 Date: 2017 Event: UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove stated that UK will support EU total ban of neonicotinoids in fields across Europe, and that the same standards will be imposed following exit from the EU. Date: 2017 Event: UN declared May 20 as World Bee Day. Resolution proposed by Slovenia adopted unanimously. Date chosen to mark the birthday of Anton Jansa, a Slovene known as the pioneer of modern beekeeping. Relevant UN Treaties and Events: International Pollinators Initiative: The São Paulo Declaration on Pollinators. Report on the Recommendations of the Workshop on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators in Agriculture with Emphasis on Bees (FAO) Policy Analysis Paper: Mainstreaming of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services With a Focus on Pollination. (FAO) Aspects determining the risk of pesticides to wild bees: risk profiles for focal crops on three continents Possible Solutions As Bee Colony Collapse Disorder is not yet fully understood, further research is vital. In order to generalise findings globally, there should be standardisation of research methods and collection of data. Furthermore, research should continue to be globally coordinated and collaborative, not competitive, which could be helped by international research organisations. In particular, sub-lethal effects of pesticides should be researched, and pesticides that are potentially damaging to honey bees and other pollinators may face restrictions. As honey bees are often not the most efficient pollinators of crops, it could be argued that the focus should shift entirely onto natural pollinators, but the practicalities of this approach may be limited. Financial assistance or awards could be provided to farmers that help both wild and domesticated bee and other pollinator populations thrive. Such practices may include leaving 7

8 habitat for bees around fields, alternating crops throughout the year so pollinators always have a food source, not using harmful pesticides, and using safe alternatives. However, such practices may cause an increase in the space required to produce a certain amount of crop, which could be deemed unethical when the world is struggling to feed a growing population. Education schemes for agricultural farmers on practices that may reduce dependence on neonicotinoid pesticides, and for beekeepers on recognising and preventing colony collapse disorder, may be helpful. While ultimately, action taken should be evidence based, it may be wise to adopt or restrict certain agricultural or husbandry methods as an application of the precautionary principle, whereby lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation. Governments could also prioritise habitat restoration, which may be provide numerous other benefits, not just increase honey bee and other pollinator populations. However, this must be balanced with the farming and housing space required for a growing global population. Education initiatives for the general public in order to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators and what they could do to help them may be useful. This may be incorporated into the World Bee Day (20 May). Bibliography: PerfectBee. Worker, drone and queen bees. United Nations Environmental Program. Emerging Issues: Global Honey Bee Disorders and Other Threats to Insect Pollinators. UNEP%20emerging%20issues_%20global%20honey%20bee%20colony%20disorder%20and %20other%20threats%20to%20insect%20pollinators- 2010Global_Bee_Colony_Disorder_and_Threats_insect_pollinators.pdf?sequence=3&is Allowed= United Nations Environmental Program. Pollinators Under Threat - So What? 8

9 International Pollinators Initiative: The São Paulo Declaration on Pollinators. Report on the Recommendations of the Workshop on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators in Agriculture with Emphasis on Bees. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture. Scientific American. The Mind-Boggling Math of Migratory Beekeeping. COLOSS - Prevention of Honey Bee Colony Losses. European Commission - Actions for Bee Health Infographic. Food and Agriculture Organisation. Policy Analysis Paper: Mainstreaming of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services With a Focus on Pollination. 9