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Is the large population of deer causing the bee Colony Collapse Disorder?(Theory explains every CCD sympton)?
THEORY: It is common knowledge that deer eat flowering plants as a part of their diet. It is also common knowledge that bees get their food from flowering plants. Since deer eat flowering plants, it is safe to assume that an increase in the number of deer will result in a decrease in the number of flowering plants in the deer inhabited area. Furthermore, this decrease in the number of flowering plants, will cause a decrease in the number of worker bees in the deer inhabited area.
WORKER BEE FACTS: Before I apply this theory to the symptoms of CCD, it is necessary to point out a few basic facts about the worker bee. The bee is not designed for long distance travel. In fact it is reported that a bee must flap its wings 12,000 times a minute when it is carrying a load of pollen. Also a single bee can visit thousands of flowers in a single day! Lastly, the worker bee is an incredibly unselfish insect. It lives and dies for the queen bee and its offspring.
SYMPTOMS OF CCD (taken from CCD wikipedia article): In collapsed colonies CCD is suspected when there is a complete absence of adult bees in colonies, with no or little build up of dead bees in the hive or in front of the hive. A colony which has collapsed from CCD is generally characterized by all of these conditions occurring simultaneously
(1) Presence of capped brood in abandoned colonies. Bees normally will not abandon a hive until the capped brood have all hatched.
(2)Presence of food stores, both honey and bee pollen:
i. which are not immediately robbed by other bees
ii. which when attacked by hive pests such as wax moth and small hive beetle, the attack is noticeably delayed.
(3)Presence of the queen bee. If the queen is not present, the hive died because it was queenless, which is not considered CCD.
Precursor symptoms that may arise before the final colony collapse are:
(4)Insufficient workforce to maintain the brood that is present
(5)Workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees
(6)The colony members are reluctant to consume provided feed, such as sugar syrup and protein supplement.
The first sign is a complete absence of adult bees. It is widely reported that a healthy hive often has dead worker bees in an around the hive. So where are all the adult bees dying? Logically, we can assume they are dying in the field. Perhaps the overpopulation of deer are eating too many flowering plants. This would cause the bee to travel greater distances in search of nectar and pollen. Since the bee is not meant for long distance travel, the bees chances for survival decrease.
As the bee workforce continues to diminish, certain effects are inevitable. With fewer bees bringing back food, the bees that are working on the brood must leave the hive in search of food. Also the bees, sensing the scarcity of flowering plants, will not touch the remaining honey. It is also highly likely that all the younger worker bees would eat before the adult worker bees. We can assume these things because of the incredibly selfless nature of the worker bee.
Up to this point, the theory has not explained why other bees and pests are reluctant to eat the honey and pollen in CCD hives. This occurrence can be explained by the young workforce. A younger workforce has less experience than an older workforce. The worker bee is responsible for building and maintaining the hive. The worker bee is also responsible for finding and making the food. A young worker bee, will produce lower quality of work than an adult bee. Perhaps the pests and other bees are reluctant to eat it because of the low quality of the honey.
A young workforce can also explain why the bees are reluctant to consume provided feed. They are young! If the deer is causing the bee to travel greater distances for nectar and pollen, the workforce will be pushed to the limit. Bees working on the hive will be forced to search for food. So what are these bees doing around the hive? Why aren't they searching for food? Perhaps they aren't searching because the have no experience. This can explain the reluctance of the young colony member to consume provided feed.
So my question is: Is the large population of deer causing the bee Colony Disorder? Please don't hesitate to point out the flaws of the theory.
-ACA
Thanks tbug and smeghead for your input. I would like to add that the deer population right now has never been higher in the history of America. Think about America pre colonial times. You had the wolf and mountain lion in every US state. These are the main predators of the deer. The native americans also hunted deer. In the early 20th century, our goverment outlawed the selling of venison. This decreased the amount of hunting. It was also during this time that we were killing off the wolf and mountain lion from many US states. In 1930, the deer population was estimated around 300,000 (wikipedia). In 2005 the AP reported the deer population was estimated around 30 million! It appears that CCD has occurred in isolated patches throughout history. However, starting at the middle of the 20th century, CCD has become widespread. Recently, CCD is at record levels
Also if bees were made to fly to higher flowering plants, there chances for survival would go down. As the bee is a tiny insects,
As the bee is a tiny insect, it is a sitting duck up in the air, Being much bigger and stronger, birds can easily prey upon the bee in the air. It is also important to note that bees in urban areas rely upon the surrounding fields just as deer do. After all, a single bee can visit thousands of flowers in a day. Also many urban gardeners will tell you that deer sometimes eat their flowers!
Thanks oikoo for your input. However you are incorrect in stating that the wild bees are doing just fine. In fact there are many reports which state that the wild bee population is worse. Just google it.
It is important to understand what my theory is saying. It is saying that the huge deer population (in US) is eating too many flowering plants and not leaving enough for the bees. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT HUGE DEER NUMBERS ARE CAUSING CCD IN OTHER PLACES. However my theory does imply that something is decreasing the number of flowering plants in that area. So the reports of CCD in Africa do not mean that it has to be deer. Many things can cause a decrease in flowering plants (Deforestation, drought, other animals, etc).
And yes my theory is a theory. The data is the CCD symptoms. My theory explains these symtpoms.
3 Answers
- SmegheadLv 77 years agoFavorite Answer
In order for your theory to hold the slightest bit of water, you'd have to show that deer populations have undergone a sudden surge upwards in a time-scale that correlates to the spread of CCD. After all, bees and deer have been coexisting just fine for centuries at least, without problems. If you're going to blame a sudden change in one species on the other species, then the other species must have undergone a similar sudden change.
I strongly strongly doubt that deer populations have undergone a sudden upward surge in the last few years. In fact, it is reasonable to believe that deer numbers were much, much higher before European settlement of the Americas, and yet bees survived just fine back then.
In short, no. And that's ignoring the epidemeological evidence pointing to infectious disease, and the fact that CCD is happening to urban beehives where deer don't exist, and mountains of other evidence.
- tbugLv 77 years ago
One thing to think about is the height of the flowering trees or plants the bees/deer feed on. Deer can only reach to a certain height, bees however are not restricted in this regard. In urban areas where deer are not prevalent would negate their impact too. I am afraid the CCD is a combination of several factors. It is possibly in some regions that the deer could contribute to the problem by eating flowering plants.
- ?Lv 77 years ago
Just because something COULD be true does not mean that it is. What makes me doubt your hypothesis (it isn't a theory until it has data to support it) is that the wild hives seem to be doing quite well and the trucked hives are in the worst shape. That would seem to implicate stress or something to do with agriculture. As smeg pointed out, deer have been increasing steadily in population in the USA and CCD came on fairly abruptly, even in countries deer are not as abundant. You could put the quietus to your hypothesis if you find out that CCD is present in Africa. There are no deer in Africa.
