Bees: Colony Collapse Disorder Is More Complicated Than You'd Think
There was no question about it: some 400 beehives had been alive and thriving, now they were suddenly dead and empty. The bees had simply vanished.
That was the mystery commercial beekeeper Dave Hackenberg discovered in his Florida bee yard in November, 2006. And it only deepened that winter as beekeepers across the country began to report the same scenario: dead hives and vanished bees.
Scientists soon named the phenomenon “Colony Collapse Disorder” or CCD, and it caught the public’s attention. So did a fact few realized: honeybees play an integral role in the national food supply.
One upshot of Colony Collapse Disorder has been a new concern and respect for the honeybee, but the mystery of what’s happening to the bees has only deepened over time.
Educators, click below for this video’s accompanying lesson plan and check out our Environmental Education Collection.
Sign up for our newsletter to receive resources related to this video.
Browse through dozens more lesson plans and videos here.
More Like This

A disastrous oil spill off the coast of Alaska and massive explosion of a rig in the Gulf of Mexico revealed a pattern of unsettled standards and inconsistent oversight that cast doubt on the oil industry’s preparedness for future accidents.

About half a million children have dangerously high lead levels in their blood, mostly from exposure to peeling paint and contaminated dust. The fight over who should clean it up has lasted for decades.

The mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder has pushed honeybees into the public eye. But the story of their plight – and its impact – is much more complicated.

In the latest installment of our “What Happens Next” series examining the future of society, we visit Medellín, Colombia—a city that has reinvented itself over the past few decades, turning its violent past into a sustainable future by transforming its slums.