Colony Collapse Disorder. For anyone who cares about honey bees or the ecosystems that rely on them, this phenomenon has been a nightmare across the globe for nearly two decades. CCD is the mysterious, disappearing-act of bees leaving their colonies and never returning, resulting in a 90% decline of their population. In the business sector, its caused nothing short of panic: according to Bloomberg, "a third of global agriculture depends upon [bees], and their economic value has been estimated at around 300 billion dollars annually."But this week there is some good news.
CCD losses are currently down by 27% from 2016. According to a health survey released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, honeybees have finally begun to increase in population again. As of April, an "estimated 2.89 million bee colonies existed across the U.S." That's an increase of 3%. A small start, but a start nonetheless.
The connection of bees to global business is often underestimated. Olam (SGX: O32), an international cotton company and one of the world's largest agriculture businesses, buys an astronomical average of 2.5 to 3 billion bees every year to pollinate its crops, according to Eco Business. While honeybees are often associated with honey production, those profits are often in the hundreds of millions. Pollination profits, however, result in billions.
The cause of CCD is not known, but many scientists and environmentalists do point to pesticides, especially neonicotinoids, which are sprayed on crops, as a reason for the major colony losses. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been researching the effects of these chemicals, and bans have been proposed on several pesticides that have correlated to agricultural fields with the largest losses, according to Bloomberg.
However, major companies who use these pesticides deny the possibility of their linkage to bee death. Bayer AG (ETR: BAYN) and Monsanto (NYSE: MON) have publicly denied that their pesticides have harmful effects, and have launched their own research to help determine the cause of bee disappearance. Monsanto formed the Honey Bee Advisory Council in 2012, "to bring together members of the beekeeping industry, experts and academia" to advise the company on sustainable solutions for improving bee health. Land O'Lakes has also worked towards increasing the bee population by launching the PolliNation project, to make sure the pollinating power of bees is not eliminated.
In upcoming months, the bee population numbers will be tracked closely to determine whether this is indeed a lasting upswing for the species, or just a lucky year against CCD. The population is far from what it once was, but any increase could bring hope to the industry that relies so heavily on it. For now, some bees are back, and we should all hope that they are here to stay.