Beekeepers have always suffered losses of their domesticated bees but in the old times those losses were gradual and the beekeeper was always able to ascertain the cause, usually a bacteria, mite or some other fungus and take merited action. Not so with colony collapse disorder, (sometimes called colony collapse syndrome or colony collapse disease). With colony collapse disorder more domesticated bees are declining faster with no obvious reason and because only the queen and a few worker bees are left alive the colony dies.

The disappearing honey bees is still a mystery. As yet there has been no firm information to point to any one cause for their death. This has led to the presumption that there is more than one cause to colony collapse disorder (CCD). Potential causes are:

Genetically modified crops

An investigation carried out by a beekeeper, John McDonald, seems to suggest that genetically modified crops could be the cause of colony collapse syndrome. He placed eight domesticated bee colonies in a place where the domesticated bees would have no proximity with genetically modified crops and an equal number of honey bee hives on farms that grew GMO's. At the end of the season in October the results of the honey collecting of both sets of honey bees was examined. The results between the two sets of honey bee colonies were very distinctive.

The eight non-GMO honey bee colonies produced 150 pounds of honey, per bee hive, in the over-wintering brood supers. Plus, between them, the 8 colonies produced 200 pounds of extra honey. The farm bees, on the other hand, had produced no extra honey and had not even packed the over-wintering brood supers. These farm honey bees will require feeding in order to ride out the winter.

Pesticides

The pesticide believed to be the main culprit in causing colony collapse disorder is nicotine-based Clothianidin, an insecticide in the neonicotinoid family. In Germany researchers found that 99 percent of dead bees had high levels of Clothianidin in their bodies. As a result the 7 pesticides in the neonicotinoid family have been provisionally outlawed.

In the US imidacloprid seems to be the pesticide causing the most colony collapse disorder. For example in North Dakota one third of colonies died after imidacloprid was in use on rapeseed.

Mobile phones

Is the electromagnetic radiation given off by cell phones interfering with the honey bee's navigation system thus preventing the honey bees from locating their way back to the hive. Some research carried out by Dr Jochen Kuhn shows that bees do not like going back to their hives when a mobile phone is positioned near the hive. If honeybees are trying to avoid mobile phone radiation then this could explain why they are getting lost and unable to find their way home.

Sustenance

Bees normally use natural material like pollen, sap, nectar, or other botanical materials, for making into honey. When beekeepers remove this honey, which the bees would normally feed on over winter, and replace it with High Fructose Corn Syrup a natural raw sustenance is being replaced with a highly processed dead sustenance. High Fructose Corn Syrup is lacking in the many minerals and vitamins found in honey so the bees are forced to eat inferior foodstuff which results in their poor health and damaged immune systems.

So what is the cause of bee colony collapse disorder. Probably a combination of all of the above though GMOs, and the neonicotinoid pesticides, seem to be the main factors which has caused the dramatic increase in bees disappearing.