Final Independent Research Project: Contemporary Issues in Art Education
Colony Collapse Disorder
- Honey Bees are critical contributors to agriculture and our ecosystem, and a large percent of our food depends on their pollination.
- There is a decline in the bee population due to a modern day phenomenon called colony collapse disorder that is affecting beekeepers and in turn affecting all of us.
- Researchers and scientists have not been able to determine the cause of CCD.
- CCD could be caused by pathogens, environmental stressors, and management stressors.
- Researchers continue to organize and conduct research in an effort to prevent the loss of more honeybees.
- Pesticides have consistently been proposed as a contributing cause of CCD, but the research does not provide the necessary scientific data, and necessary regulations are not being mandated.
- Honeybees are stressed because they are being forced through unnatural methods to pollinate in abnormal circumstances.
- It is our responsibility as citizens, educators, and beekeepers to become aware of how we can protect our bees.
Annotated Bibliography: Colony Collapse Disorder
Jacobsen, Rowan. Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008.
This book was written by Rowan Jacobsen, an author dedicated to writing books and articles that educate the public about how our food supply is directly connected to our environment. He is the winner of several James Beard Awards, and his work has been included in “The Best American Science and Nature Writings.” This book explores the mysteries associated with colony collapse disorder and defines the bee’s indispensable roll in our lives. Our food supply is being jeopardized by colony collapse disorder. This decline in the bee population is resulting in a serious agricultural crisis. There are multiple contributing factors and potential solutions associated with colony collapse disorder. This book is intended for an advocating audience interested in becoming aware the causes and resolutions pertaining to colony collapse disorder. This work will contribute to my knowledge concerning the essential roll of the bee, the potential causes of colony collapse disorder, and the necessary steps towards plausible solutions.
Burns, L. G. (2010). The hive detectives: chronicle of a honey bee catastrophe. Boston.
Loree Griffin Burns received her Ph.D. in biochemistry. She has won several awards for her writing. This author uses her books and writing to express her passion for science and nature. She is a working scientist and she has several beehives of her own. This book educates readers about the modern day bee killing phenomenon, colony collapse disorder. A group of scientists are featured in the book that are conducting research in an effort to better understand colony collapse disorder. The book goes into specific detail about how the scientists are conducting their research. This book contains more scientific data in comparison to the other references. The scientists believe that pesticides, nutrition, mites and viruses are all contributing factors. The book also features the lives of both traditional and commercial beekeepers and how their lives are being impacted by colony collapse disorder. This book is intended for an audience interested in becoming more educated about the colony collapse disorder crisis and what is being done to help research this issue. This book will help me to better understand the anatomy and social behavior of the bee, the specific factors that contribute to colony collapse disorder, how scientists are researching the disorder, and the possible solutions.
Brackney, S. M. (2009). Plan bee: everything you ever wanted to know about the hardest-working creatures on the planet. New York.
The author of this book has been a professional beekeeper since 2003. She tends an apiary in Bloomington, Indiana, and frequently writes about honeybees. She is a strong advocate for the honeybee and dedicated to studying and writing about nature and environmental affairs. The book explains why honeybees are disappearing and introduces ways that the society can help. The roles played by the drones, the queen, and her servants are explained in more detail in this book than any of the other references. The book discusses the contributing factors for colony collapse disorder, and other threats associated with the honeybee. The book provides tips for ways readers can help honeybees in their communities. This book is intended for a person who is interested in learning more about bees, the history of bees, how to utilize honey, beeswax, and pollen, the causes of colony collapse disorder, and how to keep bees. This book will help me respect the bee’s role in the hive, the importance of the roll the bee plays in the food chain, the factors contributing to colony collapse disorder, and what can be done to help the bees.
Kaplan, J. (2012). Colony Collapse Disorder. Agricultural Research, 60(6), 4-8.
This article was written by Kim Kaplan, she is a public affairs specialist for the United States Department of Agriculture. Her job is to inform the public about research conducted by the USDA and to inform Congress and taxpayers of the potential benefits derived from the research. This article discusses that the rate of the honeybee dying is leveling off but the causes of colony collapse disorder are undefined. Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon where the adult honeybees in a colony disappear. Researchers know more about colony collapse disorder than they did several years ago but no cause has been proven. Bee lab scientists have organized the causes into four categories: pathogens, parasites, environmental stressors, and management stressors. Pesticides are repeatedly nominated as a cause for colony collapse disorder. There is no scientific data to support pesticides as being a cause for colony collapse disorder. This article will help persons interested in being up to date with research pertaining to colony collapse. This article helps me to better understand current data and research efforts associated with colony collapse disorder and its potential causes.
Suryanarayanan, S., & Kleinman, D. (2011). Disappearing Bees and Reluctant Regulators. Issues In Science & Technology, 27(4), 33-36.
This article was written by Sainath Suryanarayanan and Daniel Lee Kleinman; Sainath Suryanarayanan is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Daniel Lee Kleinman is a professor, chair of the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, and director of the Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the article commercial beekeepers express their concern that pesticides are a responsible factor for the cause of colony collapse disorder. Kaplan also includes beekeeper’s concerns considering pesticides in his article. The U.S. regulators consistently dismiss the beekeepers evidence of pesticide damage to their bees. The Environmental Protection Agency only recognizes research that complies with regulatory standards of good laboratory practices. The beekeepers feel that the U.S. regulators need to consider their evidence as a sound scientific approach to pesticide regulation. Real world research on pesticide use could lead to a better understanding of the causes for colony collapse disorder. The intended audience for this article is a person committed to learning more about the causes of colony collapse disorder and a person concerned with environmental issues. This article will help me to more clearly understand the causing factors associated with colony collapse disorder.
Imhoof, M. (Director and Producer). (2012). More than Honey [Documentary]. Germany: Zero One Film.
The producer and director of this film, Markus Imhoof studied art, literature and history at the University of Zurich. Imhoof’s family members have been keeping bees for generations. He has produced multiple documentary films, one of which was Oscar nominated. This documentary discusses the unknown causes of bee depletion over the past 15 years. The causes of colony collapse disorder remain unknown. The causes for this disaster include: pesticides, medications used to combat pesticide damage, parasites, varroa mites, new viruses, traveling stresses, and electromagnetic waves. This film and the article by Rucker and Thurman identify electromagnetic waves as a contributing factor to colony collapsedisorder. Research is revealing that combinations of contributing factors could be causing the bee’s immune systems to weaken. This disaster is affecting the United States, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Poland, Asia, Portugal, Greece, Austria, and England. Plants require bee pollination in order produce fruits and vegetable. Bees are indispensable to both the economy and for human survival. The audience will benefit by learning more about the important purpose of the bee, the causes and effects of colony collapse disorder, and what actions are being taken as a result of this disaster. This film provides me with a better understanding of the causes of the disaster and how it could evolve into a larger problem in the future.
Stokstad, E. (2007). The Case of The Empty Hives. Science Magazine, 316(5827), 970-972.
Erik Stokstad has been a writer and editor for Science Magazine for the past twelve years. He received his undergraduate degree in geology from Carleton College and his master’s degree from the University of California. This article explains how colony collapse disorder is forcing many beekeepers out of business and causing farmers to spend more money to rent hives from industrial beekeepers. Researchers debate about the causes of colony collapse disorder. The reasons for this disorder include: pesticides, the varroa mite, viruses, bacteria, pathogens, or spells of bad weather. Bees are being trucked around by industrial beekeepers, resulting in bees being fed high fructose corn syrup in order to boost their immune systems. The high fructose corn syrup is causing the bees to become more vulnerable. Other countries are also experiencing a loss in their bee population. The United States has recently started importing cheap honey from abroad. Beekeepers earn more income by renting their hives. Physically moving hives from location to location can be spreading the disease. This article is useful for a reader wanting to be more educated about the potential causes of colony collapse disorder and the potential risk factors. This article helped me further understand the risks associated with industrial beekeeping and helped me better understand the potential causes for colony collapse.
Neumann, P., & Carreck, N. L. (2010). Honey bee colony losses. Journal of Apicultural Research, 49(1), 1-6.
Peter Neumann is the Action Chair, Contact to Brussels, and President for the International COLOSS (Prevention of honey bee Colony LOSSes) network. COLOSS is committed to improving the wellbeing of bees globally. Norman L. Carreck has been keeping bees most of his life. From 1991-2006 he was an apiculturalist in the Plant and Invertebrate Ecology division, responsible for 80 colonies of bees. This article explains how scientists in the United States and Europe are working to provide reasons for colony collapse disorder. Increase in colony losses have led to more global media attention. The possible causes for colony collapse disorder include: mobile phones, genetically modified crops, nanotechnology, pests, diseases, loss of forage, and beekeeping practices. Comprehensive research has not been able to determine a single cause for the phenomenon. The COLOSS network has been created to develop unified standards for the international monitoring and researching of bee loses in the form of an online BEE BOOK. COLOSS is a network of scientists, beekeepers, and industrial representatives committed to conducting unduplicated research in hopes to achieve progress to prevent colony losses on a global scale. This article helps readers better understand the future of research associated with colony collapse disorder. It helps me to further understand the global impact of colony collapse disorder, and the efforts being made by scientists and beekeepers to find a solution.
Gude, O. (2009). Art education for democratic life [NAEA Lowenfeld Lecture]. Retrieved from http://www.arteducators.org/research/2009_LowenfeldLecture_OliviaGude.pdf
Olivia Gude is an educator, artist, associate professor and the Coordinator of Art Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has written many articles and book chapters about art education and community art. In the article Gude describes how art educators have the potential to teach their students to be responsible citizens able to express their thoughts and perceptions about the world they live in. Art education provides students with the necessary skills to become engaged citizens by helping the youth actively research local and global issues. Students learn that contemporary art provokes its audience to be engaged and contribute to social issues locally and globally. This article encourages the reader to learn how art education prepares students to function as meaningful citizens. This article inspires me to prepare my students to be contributing citizens able to actively research and share their view about important issues that affect them and the world.
Rucker, R. R., & Thurman, W. N. (2011, Jun 22). Blessed are the beekeepers; despite the much-hyped 'colony collapse disorder,' there are plenty of bees and honey. Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/873340681?accountid=14867
Randal R. Rucker is a Professor of Agricultural Economics and Economics at Montana State University. He received his Ph. D. in economics from the University of Washington. He was also an Economist at the U. S. Department of Interior. Walter n. Thurman is a William Neal Distinguished Professor and a member of the graduate faculty at North Carolina State University. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago. This article reports that the pollinating services of bees and fruit and vegetable production have remained steady since the discovery of CCD in 2006, this can be attributed to the resilience of the honeybee and the perseverance of commercial beekeepers. Beekeepers have continued to lose the same percent of bees for the past four years. The Department of Agriculture reports that bee numbers increased in 2010. CCD has not measurably affected foods that are dependent on pollination. Researchers will continue to find better ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent bee diseases. This article provides the reader with encouraging data about the effects of CCD on our food supply. This article encourages me to learn that CCD is being researched and made a priority by researchers and the Department of Agriculture. It is a topic that the public need to be made aware of.
Jacobsen, Rowan. Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008.
This book was written by Rowan Jacobsen, an author dedicated to writing books and articles that educate the public about how our food supply is directly connected to our environment. He is the winner of several James Beard Awards, and his work has been included in “The Best American Science and Nature Writings.” This book explores the mysteries associated with colony collapse disorder and defines the bee’s indispensable roll in our lives. Our food supply is being jeopardized by colony collapse disorder. This decline in the bee population is resulting in a serious agricultural crisis. There are multiple contributing factors and potential solutions associated with colony collapse disorder. This book is intended for an advocating audience interested in becoming aware the causes and resolutions pertaining to colony collapse disorder. This work will contribute to my knowledge concerning the essential roll of the bee, the potential causes of colony collapse disorder, and the necessary steps towards plausible solutions.
Burns, L. G. (2010). The hive detectives: chronicle of a honey bee catastrophe. Boston.
Loree Griffin Burns received her Ph.D. in biochemistry. She has won several awards for her writing. This author uses her books and writing to express her passion for science and nature. She is a working scientist and she has several beehives of her own. This book educates readers about the modern day bee killing phenomenon, colony collapse disorder. A group of scientists are featured in the book that are conducting research in an effort to better understand colony collapse disorder. The book goes into specific detail about how the scientists are conducting their research. This book contains more scientific data in comparison to the other references. The scientists believe that pesticides, nutrition, mites and viruses are all contributing factors. The book also features the lives of both traditional and commercial beekeepers and how their lives are being impacted by colony collapse disorder. This book is intended for an audience interested in becoming more educated about the colony collapse disorder crisis and what is being done to help research this issue. This book will help me to better understand the anatomy and social behavior of the bee, the specific factors that contribute to colony collapse disorder, how scientists are researching the disorder, and the possible solutions.
Brackney, S. M. (2009). Plan bee: everything you ever wanted to know about the hardest-working creatures on the planet. New York.
The author of this book has been a professional beekeeper since 2003. She tends an apiary in Bloomington, Indiana, and frequently writes about honeybees. She is a strong advocate for the honeybee and dedicated to studying and writing about nature and environmental affairs. The book explains why honeybees are disappearing and introduces ways that the society can help. The roles played by the drones, the queen, and her servants are explained in more detail in this book than any of the other references. The book discusses the contributing factors for colony collapse disorder, and other threats associated with the honeybee. The book provides tips for ways readers can help honeybees in their communities. This book is intended for a person who is interested in learning more about bees, the history of bees, how to utilize honey, beeswax, and pollen, the causes of colony collapse disorder, and how to keep bees. This book will help me respect the bee’s role in the hive, the importance of the roll the bee plays in the food chain, the factors contributing to colony collapse disorder, and what can be done to help the bees.
Kaplan, J. (2012). Colony Collapse Disorder. Agricultural Research, 60(6), 4-8.
This article was written by Kim Kaplan, she is a public affairs specialist for the United States Department of Agriculture. Her job is to inform the public about research conducted by the USDA and to inform Congress and taxpayers of the potential benefits derived from the research. This article discusses that the rate of the honeybee dying is leveling off but the causes of colony collapse disorder are undefined. Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon where the adult honeybees in a colony disappear. Researchers know more about colony collapse disorder than they did several years ago but no cause has been proven. Bee lab scientists have organized the causes into four categories: pathogens, parasites, environmental stressors, and management stressors. Pesticides are repeatedly nominated as a cause for colony collapse disorder. There is no scientific data to support pesticides as being a cause for colony collapse disorder. This article will help persons interested in being up to date with research pertaining to colony collapse. This article helps me to better understand current data and research efforts associated with colony collapse disorder and its potential causes.
Suryanarayanan, S., & Kleinman, D. (2011). Disappearing Bees and Reluctant Regulators. Issues In Science & Technology, 27(4), 33-36.
This article was written by Sainath Suryanarayanan and Daniel Lee Kleinman; Sainath Suryanarayanan is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Daniel Lee Kleinman is a professor, chair of the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, and director of the Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the article commercial beekeepers express their concern that pesticides are a responsible factor for the cause of colony collapse disorder. Kaplan also includes beekeeper’s concerns considering pesticides in his article. The U.S. regulators consistently dismiss the beekeepers evidence of pesticide damage to their bees. The Environmental Protection Agency only recognizes research that complies with regulatory standards of good laboratory practices. The beekeepers feel that the U.S. regulators need to consider their evidence as a sound scientific approach to pesticide regulation. Real world research on pesticide use could lead to a better understanding of the causes for colony collapse disorder. The intended audience for this article is a person committed to learning more about the causes of colony collapse disorder and a person concerned with environmental issues. This article will help me to more clearly understand the causing factors associated with colony collapse disorder.
Imhoof, M. (Director and Producer). (2012). More than Honey [Documentary]. Germany: Zero One Film.
The producer and director of this film, Markus Imhoof studied art, literature and history at the University of Zurich. Imhoof’s family members have been keeping bees for generations. He has produced multiple documentary films, one of which was Oscar nominated. This documentary discusses the unknown causes of bee depletion over the past 15 years. The causes of colony collapse disorder remain unknown. The causes for this disaster include: pesticides, medications used to combat pesticide damage, parasites, varroa mites, new viruses, traveling stresses, and electromagnetic waves. This film and the article by Rucker and Thurman identify electromagnetic waves as a contributing factor to colony collapsedisorder. Research is revealing that combinations of contributing factors could be causing the bee’s immune systems to weaken. This disaster is affecting the United States, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Poland, Asia, Portugal, Greece, Austria, and England. Plants require bee pollination in order produce fruits and vegetable. Bees are indispensable to both the economy and for human survival. The audience will benefit by learning more about the important purpose of the bee, the causes and effects of colony collapse disorder, and what actions are being taken as a result of this disaster. This film provides me with a better understanding of the causes of the disaster and how it could evolve into a larger problem in the future.
Stokstad, E. (2007). The Case of The Empty Hives. Science Magazine, 316(5827), 970-972.
Erik Stokstad has been a writer and editor for Science Magazine for the past twelve years. He received his undergraduate degree in geology from Carleton College and his master’s degree from the University of California. This article explains how colony collapse disorder is forcing many beekeepers out of business and causing farmers to spend more money to rent hives from industrial beekeepers. Researchers debate about the causes of colony collapse disorder. The reasons for this disorder include: pesticides, the varroa mite, viruses, bacteria, pathogens, or spells of bad weather. Bees are being trucked around by industrial beekeepers, resulting in bees being fed high fructose corn syrup in order to boost their immune systems. The high fructose corn syrup is causing the bees to become more vulnerable. Other countries are also experiencing a loss in their bee population. The United States has recently started importing cheap honey from abroad. Beekeepers earn more income by renting their hives. Physically moving hives from location to location can be spreading the disease. This article is useful for a reader wanting to be more educated about the potential causes of colony collapse disorder and the potential risk factors. This article helped me further understand the risks associated with industrial beekeeping and helped me better understand the potential causes for colony collapse.
Neumann, P., & Carreck, N. L. (2010). Honey bee colony losses. Journal of Apicultural Research, 49(1), 1-6.
Peter Neumann is the Action Chair, Contact to Brussels, and President for the International COLOSS (Prevention of honey bee Colony LOSSes) network. COLOSS is committed to improving the wellbeing of bees globally. Norman L. Carreck has been keeping bees most of his life. From 1991-2006 he was an apiculturalist in the Plant and Invertebrate Ecology division, responsible for 80 colonies of bees. This article explains how scientists in the United States and Europe are working to provide reasons for colony collapse disorder. Increase in colony losses have led to more global media attention. The possible causes for colony collapse disorder include: mobile phones, genetically modified crops, nanotechnology, pests, diseases, loss of forage, and beekeeping practices. Comprehensive research has not been able to determine a single cause for the phenomenon. The COLOSS network has been created to develop unified standards for the international monitoring and researching of bee loses in the form of an online BEE BOOK. COLOSS is a network of scientists, beekeepers, and industrial representatives committed to conducting unduplicated research in hopes to achieve progress to prevent colony losses on a global scale. This article helps readers better understand the future of research associated with colony collapse disorder. It helps me to further understand the global impact of colony collapse disorder, and the efforts being made by scientists and beekeepers to find a solution.
Gude, O. (2009). Art education for democratic life [NAEA Lowenfeld Lecture]. Retrieved from http://www.arteducators.org/research/2009_LowenfeldLecture_OliviaGude.pdf
Olivia Gude is an educator, artist, associate professor and the Coordinator of Art Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has written many articles and book chapters about art education and community art. In the article Gude describes how art educators have the potential to teach their students to be responsible citizens able to express their thoughts and perceptions about the world they live in. Art education provides students with the necessary skills to become engaged citizens by helping the youth actively research local and global issues. Students learn that contemporary art provokes its audience to be engaged and contribute to social issues locally and globally. This article encourages the reader to learn how art education prepares students to function as meaningful citizens. This article inspires me to prepare my students to be contributing citizens able to actively research and share their view about important issues that affect them and the world.
Rucker, R. R., & Thurman, W. N. (2011, Jun 22). Blessed are the beekeepers; despite the much-hyped 'colony collapse disorder,' there are plenty of bees and honey. Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/873340681?accountid=14867
Randal R. Rucker is a Professor of Agricultural Economics and Economics at Montana State University. He received his Ph. D. in economics from the University of Washington. He was also an Economist at the U. S. Department of Interior. Walter n. Thurman is a William Neal Distinguished Professor and a member of the graduate faculty at North Carolina State University. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago. This article reports that the pollinating services of bees and fruit and vegetable production have remained steady since the discovery of CCD in 2006, this can be attributed to the resilience of the honeybee and the perseverance of commercial beekeepers. Beekeepers have continued to lose the same percent of bees for the past four years. The Department of Agriculture reports that bee numbers increased in 2010. CCD has not measurably affected foods that are dependent on pollination. Researchers will continue to find better ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent bee diseases. This article provides the reader with encouraging data about the effects of CCD on our food supply. This article encourages me to learn that CCD is being researched and made a priority by researchers and the Department of Agriculture. It is a topic that the public need to be made aware of.