Apparent often sudden, inadequate adult population to cover brood cells. May occur naturally and temporarily during spring colony development, during heavy flight activity, following a pesticide poisoning incident, or due to disease such as viral epidemics. Colony absconding in the fall or swarming in spring reduces adult population rapidly. Colony collapse disorder (CCD) can also result in sudden (2-4 week) loss of adult bee population.
The adult population of healthy bee colonies should be sufficient to blanket developing brood and patrol the hive interior to keep scavenger pests such as small hive beetles, ants, yellowjackets, and wax moth from entering or developing. Adult bee depopulation may occur when there are too few adults relative to the brood population, which may occur in early spring, when older bees die at a faster rate than a colony can rear replacements, or in the fall, when hygienic bees uncap and remove pupae as they seek reproducing mites in capped brood cells, which results in inadequate rearing of new adult bees.
Severe disease infestations such as American foulbrood or viruses transmitted by mites, i.e., parasitic mite syndrome (PMS), also affect rate of replacement of older adults, leading to too few adults in a colony. Sudden depopulations of adults occur with behaviors of absconding, swarming, starvation, and pesticide poisoning.
Syndromes such as CCD and bee PMS often include sudden adult bee depopulation, both of which can lead to overwinter deadouts. Earlier descriptive terms such as colony disappearing disease, autumn collapse, May disease, or spring dwindling were used to describe depopulation of adults (and sometimes brood), especially for instances of regional colony declines.
absconding, CCD, bee PMS, pesticide poisoning, starvation, swarming
Sagili R, Hooven L. 2020 update. Bee Colony Collapse Disorder. National Pesticide Information Center. Accessed 2023. http://npic.orst.edu/envir/ccd.html
Ellis J, 2016 update. Colony Collapse Disorder. University of Florida/IFAS Extension. Accessed 2023. https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/agriculture/colony-collapse-disorder/
vanEngelsdorp D, et al. 2009. Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study. PLoS ONE 4(8):e6481. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0006481
Synder R. 2013. Parasitic Mite Syndrome (PMS). BeeInformed. Accessed 2023. https://beeinformed.org/2013/10/15/parasitic-mite-syndrome-pms/
Inglin K. 2020. Euthanizing a colony. The Beekeeper’s Corner. Accessed 2023. https://www.bkcorner.org/euthanizing-a-colony/
