Biotech Updates

USDA Releases 2010 Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder Progress Report

December 23, 2010

"Honey bees are critical to U.S. agriculture, with about 130 crops depending on pollination to add more than $15 billion in crop value annually. It is vital that we find a way to deal with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)," said Agriculture Research Service Administrator Edward B. Knipling.

To this end, the US Congress in 2008 mandated a study to find the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) syndrome and how to stop or mitigate its impact. Recently, the US Department of Agriculture released the 2010 Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) Progress Report on the three- year investigative research conducted by federal agencies, state departments of agriculture, universities and private organizations.

The Report said that "numerous causes for CCD have been proposed and investigated but the cause(s) of CCD are still unknown. It supports the hypothesis that CCD may be a syndrome caused by an interplay of many different factors in various combination and interaction modes.

The original news can be viewed at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/101217.htm. The Report is available online at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd/ccdprogressreport2010.pdf.