Honey Bee Dilemma: An Introduction to My Work

Honey bees play a crucial role in the global agriculture industry.

Their pollination is liable for crop values of over 15 billion dollars (Kaplan, 2015), but within the past century, honey bees have been plagued by a mysterious complication: Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Many different blights have become well known destroyers of hives across the globe, but little can be found as a cause or a cure to the bizarre CCD syndrome. This daunting calamity is defined by a bee colony with no living adult bees and no carcasses in the hive; however, a living queen, growing larvae, and oftentimes adequate stores of honey are still present. No scientific cause for CCD has yet been proven, so if the cause and cure cannot be found, what can be done to save the colonies?

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Centuries ago, the methods that we use today to treat bee hives were not available. How then did they manage to keep their bee hives alive? Through understanding hives, identifying bee patterns of behaviors, and the cycles of certain attackers, the bee hives could be kept alive if only the bee keeper was willing to put the work in to finding these distinct patterns. While bee hives did not always survive, fewer harmful chemicals were used and crops were produced more naturally.

Essential oils have shown to be an effective method for warding off various insects that prey on the bees. Essential oil combinations are less harmful to the honey bee organism than a purely man-made chemical, but the substances are still foreign to the original environment and thus need to be knowledgeably administered. Historically, hardly any additive was given to a working hive and bee keepers learned how to manage the hives regardless. In a compare and contrast method (i.e. essential oils vs. no treatments, simple awareness and avoidance techniques) repeating these two examples may provide valuable information about the productivity

of the hives when exposed to foreign additives. At the end of a season, twin hives may be weighed to estimate the honey production and bee survival rates, directly comparing the naturally treated hive to the un-treated colony.

Bee hives are a major part of the agriculture business. Oklahoma is a large agriculture state and I think it’s quite necessary to research the health of our honey bees. Research is lacking in this state for how to keep our hives healthy so our plants and those we feed them to are also in optimal health. Bee hive research in Oklahoma impacts the majority of the mid-continent region of agriculture unlike the studies done in California, Florida and Ohio, the out reaches of the country.

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Presently, I have been researching for my upcoming bee project, secured an apprenticeship under a successful bee keeper, and formed connections with other bee keepers to aid me in my research should I ask them to. They are fully willing to help and experiment under the guidelines I will provide for them once my research is more fully established and should I wish to have a larger and more diverse sample size. I am looking forward to having my own apiary to begin research. I plan on continuing my bee research throughout my undergraduate and possibly my graduate degree.

Studying the behaviors of animals has always been one of my favorite things to do, whether it’s people, insects or other animals. I’m curious how their brains (or in the case of microscopic organisms, a lack-of-brains) work. Science is utterly fascinating. It’s so abstract and complex all at the same time. Behavior is an endless mystery to study and observe, and I absolutely love mysteries.

Research, in some way or another, always seems to come back to helping something become even better. It involves amazing analytical skills, pattern observation, problem solving, and prior knowledge combined with the constant need to learn new things, all-in-all, research is rather perfect for the “never stop learning” lifestyle.

Kaplan. Honey Bee Health and Colony Collapse Disorder. (2015, November 5). Retrieved January 17, 2016, from http://www.ars.usda.gov/news/docs.htm?docid=15572