| Awareness of the decline of honey bees and other pollinators
took a dramatic upturn after two recent events: the October 2006 release
of the National Research Council report “Status of Pollinators in North
America” followed by high death rates of bee colonies in the winters of
2006-2008, a phenomenon now called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). All
at once, managed pollinators were popularly recognized for what they always
were: essential members of American agro-ecosystems.
The problems with managed pollinators cannot be relegated
to one or few causative agents. Bee declines are likely a product of negatively
interacting factors in pathology, immunology, nutrition, toxicology, genetics,
ecosystems management, and bee husbandry. In response, we have assembled
a nationally-coordinated team of experts with proven capacity in extension,
genomics, pathology, toxicology, management, pollination, and bee behavior.
Our long-term goal is to restore large and diverse populations of managed
bee pollinators across the United States to sustain natural and agricultural
plant communities.
Dr. Keith S. Delaplane
University of Georgia
Department of Entomology |
