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Simultaneous web cast at www.csu.edu.

Colony Collapse Disorder

DISTINGUISHED ROSTER OF LEADING RESEARCHERS GATHER AT CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOR PANEL DISCUSSION: "COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER: WHERE HAVE ALL THE HONEYBEES GONE? "

Chicago State University (CSU) will host a panel discussion entitled "Colony Collapse Disorder: Where have all the honeybees gone?" on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Panelists will describe and discuss the impact of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) on the world's food basket, the environment, and the economy.

PANEL INFORMATION

Date:   Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Time:  1:00-3:00 PM (Simultaneous webcast at www.csu.edu)

Place: New Academic Library (NAL), 4th Floor Auditorium

Cost:   The lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is limited; registration is encouraged.

             (There is a $4.00 parking fee for the campus.)

PANELISTS

• May Berenbaum, Ph.D.

 Professor and Department Head of Entomology, University of Illinois-Urbana
Leading national expert on Colony Collapse Disorder

• Dennis van Engelsdorp, Ph.D.

Apiarist for the State of Pennsylvania, Leading expert on Colony Collapse Disorder

• Cindy McDonnell
  Researcher, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana

The abrupt disappearance of honeybee colonies in North America was first noticed in 2006. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has gained considerable national and international attention, especially among entomologists as more and more beekeepers report higher than usual colony losses. In colony collapse disorder, colonies inexplicably lose all of their worker bees. The main symptom is finding no or a low number of adult honey bees present with no dead bees in the hive. Honeybees ensure our country's food supply. More than 100 agricultural crops are pollinated by honeybees and a third of the food that Americans consume comes directly from pollination. The continued decline in honeybee survival may signal increased food prices and decreased food availability. According to a February 2007 article published in the New York Times, bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the off season to be normal.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers the mysterious disappearance of honeybees as a critical environmental issue. The USDA’s action plan coordinates the federal strategy in response to CCD. It addresses four main components:

1. Survey and data collection needs
2. Analysis of samples to determine the prevalence of various pests and pathogens, exposure to pesticides, or other unusual factors
3. Controlled experiments to carefully analyze the potential causes of CCD
4. Developing new methods to improve the general health of bees to reduce their susceptibility to CCD and other disorders

Four possible causes for CCD are identified in the plan:

1. New or reemerging pathogens
2. New bee pests or parasites
3. Environmental and/or nutritional stress
4. Pesticides

For more information, interested parties can call the Leadership and Policy Institute at 773.821.2161..

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The CSU Leadership and Policy Institute’s Distinguished Lecture Series was established in 2007 to present issues of importance to public policy formation within program areas outlined in the mission of the Institute.

Data obtained from Internet at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/070713.htm “USDA Announces Colony Collapse Disorder Research Action Plan,” Kaplan, July 13, 2007.