Bee Colony Decline: Reasons and Recommendations - Abstract
Bees are important part of ecology. They make pollination services and nectar collections. These activities make them in the top of pollination services in the eco-system. Currently, bee colonies are declined worldwide due to exposure to biotic and abiotic factors. The effects of these parameters are not well discussed. The article discusses the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on bee colony decline and recommends a suitable method to reduce the decline. The study reveals that biotic factor such as Varroa mite attack is a strong factor stand behind bee colony decline. Abiotic parameters such as toxic pesticide have strong effects on bee population death leading to decline. The study found 92 toxic pesticide residues in honey samples from 27 countries in the world that played critical rules in bee colony decline. Land scab, land use and climate changes have also tremendous effects in bee colony decline. Furthermore, biotic and abiotic parameters may act together and produce destructive effects on bee colony. The most common pesticide residues found in honey samples are those belong to chemical classes Necotinoids (N), pyrethroids (PY), and chlorinated hydrocarbon (CH). A strong positive correlation was found between honeybee decline and honey contamination with N and PY compounds. We recommend immediate varroa control and legislative regulation to control the use of N and PY pesticides in the flowering zones to reduce honeybee decline.