B.C.: Lack of bees a worry for crop farmers

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.ctvbc.ca/servlet/an/local...shColumbiaHome

Lack of bees a worry for crop farmers

Updated: Wed May. 14 2008 14:08:05

ctvbc.ca

Berry farmers in British Columbia are predicting higher prices for their crops this year, due to an unseasonably cool spring and a declining population of bees.

Blueberry crops, which rely heavily on bee pollination, could be hit hard, particularly in the Fraser Valley, where farmers have increased the areas designated for growing their crops to 18,000 acres from 10,000 acres in recent years.

A poorly pollinated berry crop is not worth the garden space, farmers say. If it is poorly pollinated, the berry will likely be small, especially in areas where bees are entirely missing.

After April's showers and unseasonably cold weather, farmer Amrik Singh Nijjer's blueberry buds are dying right before his eyes.

Nijjer figures his 30-acre field will yield only half the blueberries of the usual crop.

Mother nature is not the only factor affecting the berries. Bee populations, which are supposed to be pollinating the berries, are declining.

Poor weather and pesky mites have hurt this industry for years, with B.C. losing 450 beekeeping operations since 1999.

Vancouver Island lost 36 per cent of its bee stock, while the Central North-Peace region reported the highest bee death rate of 58 per cent.

The winter survival rate of honeybees has been on the decline for four consecutive years, culminating in the worst-ever losses in 2007, experts say.

Beekeeper Bob Fisher says bee populations are down due to the cold weather and a new virus that is wiping out bee colonies.

Without pollination, berries will be of poor quality -- and that goes for blueberries, raspberries and cranberries.

"(The virus) started somewhere in Europe, it spread, ended up over here," Fisher said.

This means honey and your favourite berries will cost more this season.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Renu Bakshi

[tropical]

Re: B.C.: Lack of bees a worry for crop farmers

"Beekeeper Bob Fisher says bee populations are down due to the cold weather and a new virus that is wiping out bee colonies."

A new bee scourge, or a bee disorder syndrome inducing low immunity and virus prevailing?
Obviously an uncontrolate climate switching, joined with chemicals ruins the immunity.

[Shiloh]

Re: B.C.: Lack of bees a worry for crop farmers

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../National/home


The mystery of B.C.'s dying bees
Something unknown killed 30 per cent of the insects over the winter, throwing fruit production into turmoil

SHANNON MONEO

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

May 20, 2008 at 4:54 AM EDT

VICTORIA ? Honeybees pollinate roughly one-third of our food, buzzing away diligently in the background of our lives. But B.C. bees are dying in droves and the unexplained losses could spell disaster for crops, including B.C.'s $100-million blueberry sector.

Last winter, and into the unseasonably cold spring, some beekeepers lost 60 per cent of their bees in an unprecedented hiving-off that began four years ago, a B.C. expert said.

"We are starting to face the ever-escalating problem of a shortage of honeybees to meet our requirements," said Paul van Westendorp, provincial apiculturist for B.C.'s Ministry of Agriculture. "It is a serious problem that will lead to very serious implications."

Without enough bees to pollinate plants, their yields will be smaller, less uniform, unappealing in appearance, take longer to mature and have a lower sugar content.

"People don't realize the interdependence of bees and flowering plants, but they have been each other's partners for over 100 million years, " said Mr. van Westendorp, who began beekeeping 45 years ago as a child in Holland. "When one group goes down, the other will suffer also."

What's causing the bees to die has not been determined, but theories range from radiation from cellphone towers to pesticides to a mite that drills a hole into the bee, sucks its blood and transmits viruses.

The annual mortality survey conducted this spring by Mr. van Westendorp's department found average winter losses in B.C. to be 30 per cent, based on responses from beekeepers who own half of the province's 50,000 colonies.

The highest colony losses - 58 per cent - were recorded in the Central North-Peace area and the lowest losses, about 15 per cent, in the Kootenay and South Okanagan areas.

Last year, the loss rate averaged 23 per cent.

In the U.S., the mortality rate is about 36 per cent, a 4-per-cent increase from 2007, Mr. van Westendorp said.

There are pockets of B.C., such as Vancouver Island, where 65 to 90 per cent of the colonies have died, Nanaimo beekeeper Stan Reist said.

Last fall, he had 400 colonies. In early May, only 170 still buzzed.

"I don't know of a business that builds in a 60-per-cent loss year after year. You can't recover," said Mr. Reist, who got into beekeeping 18 years ago when his wife Cheryl bought two hives to pollinate their fruit trees.

Mr. Reist has had to return to work as a heavy-duty mechanic to pay the bills.

For the next month, he will spend $210 on sugar every 2? days to feed his surviving bees. He'll also spend $115 on diesel fuel every 2? days to travel to his hives, located between Nanaimo and Campbell River.

The bees, being fair-weather fliers, are too weak to forage for the less-than-abundant nectar and pollen during this delayed growing season.

"We'll support our bees so they can service the blueberry, apple, cherry, cranberry, holly farmers," he said.

Fraser Valley blueberry growers, the world's second-largest suppliers of high-brush blueberries, can't get the bees they need for pollination.

Mr. van Westendorp predicts a 20,000-hive shortage this season, some of it attributable to the explosive growth in blueberry farming, which blossomed from 4,900 hectares four years ago to 7,300 today.

Last year, blueberry farmers paid about $70 per hive, said Will van Baalen, executive director of the B.C. Blueberry Council. This year, one hive will cost about $100 per week. Most farms need two colonies an acre for two weeks.

Some blueberry farmers had long-term contracts with beekeepers, but even they aren't guaranteed they'll get the bees they need. "This year, there definitely won't be enough hives," Mr. van Baalen said.

About 10,000 Alberta colonies are filling some of the void in B.C. and beekeepers from other provinces have been urged to head west. But Albertan beekeepers have had their own problems, particularly in the Peace River region, where 45 to 60 per cent of the bees have died.

In California, where 80 per cent of the world's almonds are grown (a $1.5-billion industry), a shortage of pollinating honeybees forced farmers to solicit bees from as far away as Maine and New Hampshire, Mr. van Westendorp said.

The B.C. Ministry of Agriculture's research centre in Abbotsford is the only facility in Canada that can identify disease species affecting honeybees. Using DNA techniques popularized by crime labs, the centre has been examining dead bees for four known killers: parasites called Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae, and two viruses called Israeli acute paralysis virus and Kashmir bee virus.

Testing is not complete but colony collapse disorder (adult bees mysteriously disappear from a hive), blamed for the havoc in U.S. bee colonies, has not been proven to be the cause of Canadian bee deaths, Mr. van Westendorp said.

He suspects a mighty mite, varroa destructor, first detected in Canada in 1990. It attaches to a bee and sucks its blood, leaving open wounds through which infections can enter.

With massive bee losses in Europe and unreliable data from other parts of the world, continued research is mandatory, Mr. van Westendorp stressed.

"There's no other insect that can be used so widely," he said.

Special to The Globe and Mail

Hive mystery

Honeybee experts don't know why B.C.'s pollinators are having difficulty surviving the winter. The survival numbers this spring:

Survived Wintered/ Total
Vancouver Island 2,116 3,327
Fraser Valley 7,039 9,454
Powell R. & Sunshine 129 208
C. & N. Okanagan* 3,013 4,830
South Okanagan 2,458 2,888
Kootenays 2,120 2,447
Thompson-Nicola 665 975
Central North-Peace 1,.044 2,230

* Central and Northern Okanagan

TRISH McALASTER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL; SOURCE: B.C. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & LANDS

[Shiloh]

Re: B.C.: Lack of bees a worry for crop farmers

Source: http://www.peacecountrysun.com/News/408253.html

Big losses for B.C. beekeepers

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN
Peace Country Sun Writer
Friday June 27, 2008
Paul van Westendorp

Beekeepers from British Columbia have suffered drastic losses, particularly in the Peace region. The grim message about the state of British Columbia?s bee operation was delivered to Peace area beekeepers from Alberta and British Columbia at the annual Beekeeper Field Day, held at the Beaverlodge Research station, June 20.

Paul van Westendorp, provincial apiarist for British Columbia, travelled from Abbotsford to deliver on the current state of the industry to those in attendance.

?2007 is the second year that we have had some very serious problems,? he said. Problems were not limited to British Columbia, but have appeared in other parts of the country.

?In spring of 2007, surveying was done that reported high winter-loss that rose to 32 per cent,? he said.

There were considerable regional differences throughout British Columbia, with some regions reporting higher losses than others. The long, cold, winter, late spring and poor summer resulted in a poor honey crop.

Surveyors looked for viruses in the bees including Kashmir Bee Virus and the Nosema Virus. Techniques used in forensics are used to research the viruses.

?What makes viruses so frustrating is that they can be harboured in honeybees for years before becoming virulent. What the mechanism is that makes them virulent, we don?t know,? he said.

Unfortunately, there is still a problem collecting data and finding the correct cause of colony loss. Weak colonies may cause sample bias in surveys.

In 2007, 74 colonies in British Columbia were sampled for diseases.


?What we?ve been doing is testing ill colonies, so our studies are skewed as if there?s an awful lot of trouble. We?re not testing well colonies,? he explained.

In 2008, the initial winter mortality was tracked at 31 per cent, but is expected to rise to 35 to 40 per cent.

?There?s no other commodity group that suffers these kind of losses,? said van Westendorp. ?Who can afford to raise their livestock at that rate? It?s impossible.?

The Peace River region suffered a loss of 70 per cent of their colonies, the Fraser Valley suffered a loss of 26 per cent of their colonies, while Vancouver island suffered a loss of 43 per cent.

Other causes for winter losses may include unsuccessful mite control, as varroa mites have become more successful at infecting bees.

Some of the problems have been blamed on poor beekeeper management, but van Westendorp is quick to dispel that argument.

?If it is poor management, how come the misery seems to be experienced by beekeepers from all over? It has to be something more,? he said.

One of van Westendorp?s theories is that the losses may be caused by a new type of aggressive influenza similar to the avian flu.

He believes the losses may also be a result of a combination of factors, likely caused by biotic and abiotic agents and conditions. It could be a result of problems caused by insecticides.

Van Westendorp urged the beekeepers to consider the larger effects of bee loss on agriculture.

?About one-third of human food is insect pollinated,? he said.

Incomplete crop pollination can result in lower crop yield, delayed maturation, greater variability in size, shape and colour, and a lower quality of crop.

?Delayed maturation is important,? he said. ?If you?re in the blueberry business, you want to be the first guy with the sign in his driveway that says ?Fresh blueberries.?

Van Westendorp did have a few positive points to make about the situation, and told the apiarists there was some movement to try to create financial compensation for commercial beekeepers at the provincial and national levels.

?We?d like to keep people involved. We hope beekeepers can be encouraged to stay in the business. We can only monitor the situation and develop liaisons with other provinces,? he said.

Equally important is the promotion of good management practices to optimize the natural defences of bees, as well as their immune system response.

?They have marvelous natural defence systems. We need to strengthen these instead of relying on drugs."