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What remains inside a hive after a colony collapse disorder event?
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colony collapse disorder
A western honeybee (Apis mellifera) forages in Italy.
Following a colony collapse disorder (CCD) event, the hive is characterized by a sudden absence of healthy adult bees, as the workers leave to forage and fail to return. Despite the loss of the adult population, the following items typically remain inside the hive:12
- Food stores: Honey and pollen are usually still present.12
- Brood: There is often evidence of recent brood rearing.12
- Survivors: In some instances, the queen and a small number of surviving bees may remain within the brood nest.12
Notably, these abandoned hives often exhibit a delayed response from other local colonies, which are slow to rob the remaining honey, and they experience a slower-than-normal invasion by common pests such as wax moths and small hive beetles.1