Honey Bee Losses Still a Problem in US

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-05-12-voa5.cfm

Honey Bee Losses Still a Problem in US
Beekeepers reported losing about 35 percent of their hives in the fall and winter of last year. Transcript of radio broadcast:

12 May 2008

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Honey bees add billions of dollars in value to around one hundred thirty crops in the United States. But since the nineteen eighties, researchers have been concerned about the health of these valuable pollinators.

Honey bee
Worries grew after the winter of two thousand six. Some pollination services reported losses of anywhere from thirty to ninety percent of their hives. The beekeepers did not find dead adult bees as they often do after winter. Instead, the bees were gone. Experts gave a name to this mysterious situation: colony collapse disorder.

A report in Agricultural Research magazine, from the Department of Agriculture, takes a fresh look at C.C.D. It says the disorder is truly a serious problem. But it says there were enough honey bees to provide all the agricultural pollination needed last year.

Still, beekeepers reported losing about thirty-five percent of their hives in the fall and winter of two thousand seven. It two thousand six, it was thirty-one percent.

The United States has almost two and one-half million managed beehives. Experts from the Agriculture Department and the Apiary Inspectors of America did a study involving about one-fifth of them.

One finding was that beekeepers who found no dead adult bees were more likely to have the most severe losses. Also, a virus called I.A.P.V., for Israeli acute paralysis virus, was present in almost half the colonies studied.

But researchers say they do not know if this virus causes a colony to collapse. They say the lack of affected bees to examine makes it difficult to know exactly what the new disorder is.

Losses in honey bee populations can result from a number of causes. A big problem, for example, is the varroa mite, a deadly parasite. And experts keep looking for other answers for the current situation.

Scientists at the University of Virginia recently reported that air pollution may prevent bees from finding flowers to pollinate. They think ozone in the air is keeping bees and other pollinators from smelling the flowers. Bees feed on nectar and pollen from flowers.

Jose Fuentes and his team at Virginia studied how far the scent of flowers travels with the wind. Before the eighteen hundreds, they say, it was more than one thousand two hundred meters. Now, they say, the scent can travel only about three hundred meters at best. Their study is in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

And that?s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For more about bees, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I?m Faith Lapidus.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Honey Bee Losses Still a Problem in US

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20080516/NEWS/805160402/1004

Published: Friday, May 16, 2008
BUZZING OFF
Mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder Stings Hives' Owners in Polk (Florida), Elsewhere
By Kyle Kennedy
THE LEDGER
BOWLING GREEN
When The Ledger visited David Adams in December 2006, the beekeeper was just beginning his struggle with a puzzling affliction now known as Colony Collapse Disorder.
Adams, owner of Fort Meade-based Adams Honey & Pollination, lost nearly three quarters of his 1,000 hives that winter as adult bees vanished from seemingly healthy colonies.

Then he lost half his 2007 stock and has spent in excess of $85,000 to mitigate a problem that has eluded researchers and beekeepers nationwide.

"You can't see it until it starts happening, and then you can't do anything," Adams said last week as he tended to hives near a watermelon field in Bowling Green. "It's hard to get ahead when you're losing 50 percent."

Since the outbreaks of Colony Collapse, or CCD, were reported in the fall of 2006, cases have been documented in 36 states and parts of Europe. Researchers say they have made progress in identifying potential causes, but have yet to single out a culprit.

"We know a lot more about what kills bees, but we're still unable to put it together," said Jamie Ellis, an assistant professor of entomyology at the University of Florida. "It's really difficult to hazard a guess as to which hypotheses are the leading contenders."

Colonies with CCD may appear healthy and then succumb within weeks as adult bees mysteriously disappear and never return, leaving behind their queen and honey, Ellis said. Suspected factors include mites, viruses, pesticides, pollution, malnutrition and stress from shipping bees around the country for commercial crop pollination (a multibillion-dollar enterprise).

IMPACT ON CROPS

The spread of CCD has been troublesome because of its potential impact on the nation's crops, roughly one-third of which depend on pollination. Also at stake is Florida's $14 million honey industry - ranked third in the U.S. behind North Dakota and California - and the estimated $20 million in additional production that honeybees generate for Florida's fruit and vegetable growers, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

Jerry Hayes, the department's assistant chief of apiary inspection, said there are roughly 190 commercial beekeepers in Florida and virtually all have dealt with CCD to some extent.

Although beekeepers can divide and requeen hives to help replenish their numbers, it will be harder to do so as losses mount, Hayes said.

"The industry is still struggling. The question is, how long can they do this," he said.

"They've got one nostril above the water."

WORSENING WOES

Lotta Kay Struthers, who owns about 1,000 hives with her husband, Alden, said the arrival of CCD has only compounded ongoing problems with Varroa mites and other maladies.

"We probably requeen and rebuild a third of our hives once a year, but you can turn around and lose a lot of your hives at one time," said Struthers, of Struthers Honey near Lake Wales.

In addition to producing honey, the couple send their hives around the state to pollinate blueberry, strawberry and cantaloupe crops. Alden Struthers said it would be more profitable to ship the bees to California to pollinate almonds, but says the risks have become too great.

"I'm afraid to go. There's big money out there but I'm afraid to get my bees where everyone else's are at."

Alden Struthers is president of the local Ridge Beekeepers Association, which has about 25 members. "It's big bucks if you don't bring back a virus."

RISK DISCOURAGING

Adams, who currently owns 1,100 hives, said he would like to nearly double that figure but has incurred significant debt trying to replace bees and testing various nutritional supplements.

"If you start having massive losses it's just not going to add up," Adams said.

Honeybees and their agricultural importance have long been taken for granted, Hayes said, but CCD is changing that. He points to increased funding and concerted research efforts between state and federal agricultural departments and public universities.

Ice cream maker Hagen-Dazs has launched its own campaign to promote awareness about CCD and honeybee health; the company says more than 40 percent of its flavors are made with the aid of honeybee pollination.

"Now we have a lot of smart people looking at honeybees, so we're finding a lot of viruses, a lot of fungal problems that we didn't know were there," Hayes said. "We're getting closer, but research never goes fast enough."

[ Kyle Kennedy can be reached at kyle.kennedy@theledger.com or 863-802-7584. ]
....
Also on this webpage is an insert on CCD:
http://llimg.ny.publicus.com/apps/p...&ArtNo=805160402&Ref=V1&Profile=1004&MaxW=205
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Last modified: May 16. 2008 7:08AM

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Honey Bee Losses Still a Problem in US

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080521205303.htm

Honey Bee Losses Continue To Rise In U.S.

ScienceDaily (May 26, 2008) ? Colony Collapse Disorder, diseases, parasitic mites and other stressors continue to take a devastating toll on U.S. honey bee populations, but Pennsylvania beekeepers on average fared better than their counterparts nationally during this past winter, according to apiculture experts in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

A recent survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America found that losses nationwide topped 36 percent of managed hives between September 2007 and March 2008, compared to a 31 percent loss during the same period a year earlier.

Pennsylvania fared better, with losses of about 26 percent, compared to nearly 48 percent the previous year. "About 70 percent of the state's losses this year were not related to Colony Collapse Disorder," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, acting state apiarist for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and a Penn State senior extension associate in entomology.

He said the state's lower overall bee-mortality rate may be due to greater awareness of bee health issues and beekeepers' diligence in controlling varroa mites, nosema and other threats. He pointd out that weather conditions also may have been more favorable for winter survival.

vanEngelsdorp noted that the state's comparatively lower losses meant that beekeepers this spring were able to meet the pollination demands of Pennsylvania's $61 million apple industry, which is the fourth largest in the country. Apples are completely dependent on insects for pollination, and 90 percent of that pollination is accomplished by honey bees.

"However, the cost of pollination has risen dramatically," he said "This year, apple growers paid about $65 per colony, compared with $35 to $45 in the past." A typical apple orchard requires one colony per acre to achieve adequate pollination. Last year, apple growers harvested about 21,500 acres.

Later this year, pumpkin growers may pay $95 to $105 per colony, compared to $55 to $65 last year, vanEngelsdorp said.

Meanwhile, Penn State researchers are making progress in pinning down the cause or causes of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a mysterious ailment that threatens the beekeeping industry and the crops and native plants that rely on honey bees for pollination.

In fall 2007, a team led by Diana Cox-Foster, professor of entomology, reported a strong correlation between CCD and the presence of Israeli acute paralysis virus, making the pathogen a prime suspect in the disease. Since that time, researchers have introduced IAPV to healthy honey bee colonies in a controlled greenhouse environment in an effort to induce a collapse.

"Within one week of introducing the virus, we observed dramatic bee mortality, with bees dying outside the colonies across the room in the greenhouse," said Cox-Foster. "Bees were found on the floor with paralytic-type movements, and guard bees were observed removing paralytic bees from colonies and flying across the room. The majority of these 'twitcher' bees were found to have IAPV."

Cox-Foster noted that within a month, infected colonies had declined to small clusters of bees, many of which had lost their queens. "These data indicate that IAPV is a highly pathogenic virus," she said. "But they do not yet support a finding of IAPV as the sole cause of Colony Collapse Disorder. We still suspect that additional stresses are needed to trigger CCD."

Among the potential triggers being investigated are environmental chemicals. Penn State scientists analyzing pollen, wax, adult bees and brood (larvae) have found the presence of dozens of chemicals, including pesticides used by agricultural producers to protect crops and by beekeepers to control hive pests such as parasitic mites.

"This raises several complicated questions," said Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate in entomology. "Some of these compounds could react with each other to cause toxic effects or could combine with viruses or poor nutrition to weaken immunity and cause colony collapse. We also need to do more research to understand these chemicals' sub-lethal effects on bees."

Though the role of chemicals in Colony Collapse Disorder is still unknown, Frazier noted that beekeepers need more options for controlling varroa mites so they can reduce their reliance on chemicals. "With the sheer number of compounds we're finding in hives, it's hard to believe that pesticides aren't contributing to the general decline in bee health," she said.
Adapted from materials provided by Penn State.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Honey Bee Losses Still a Problem in US

Source: http://westernfarmpress.com/citrus/honeybee-collapse-0624/

Apiary study shows U.S. honey bee situation remains in perilous state

Jun 24, 2008 11:16 AM, By David Bennett
Farm Press Editorial Staff

In 2006, after honey bees abandoned hives in massive numbers, beekeepers began sounding an alarm that gained volume in 2007 when the mass exodus and die-off of bees picked up speed. Researchers named the mysterious malady colony collapse disorder (CCD).

?Unfortunately, beekeepers have struggled over the last few years from colonies dying from introduced parasitic mites and other things,? said Jerry Hayes, then president of the Apiary Inspectors of America from his Gainesville, Fla., office last spring. ?They?re already kind of numb because of all the problems. But in (the summer of 2006), beekeepers began losing colonies for reasons that weren?t quite in line with the other problems.

?With affected hives, there are no dead or dying bees on the ground as we see with pesticide exposures or other diseases. No one can explain this behavior.?

The few bees left in CCD-hit hives appear to suffer from an immune system collapse, susceptible to bacteria and fungi that normally would cause little bother.

?That, too, is highly unusual, and we?ve been trying to find the cause for several months. It seems to indicate some sort of mass immune deficiency. There are some very smart people looking for an answer, but we still haven?t come up with something we can combat through management practices or something else. It?s quite frustrating.?

Time not a healer

With solutions to CCD in short supply, many were hoping the disorder would run out of steam and the key pollinators of U.S. crops would be back to full health in 2008. That hasn?t happened.

?The AAIA did another survey looking at CCD,? said Hayes, assistant chief of Apiary Inspection at the Florida Department of Agriculture, on May 15. ?This year, there?s been an additional 36 percent loss in honey bee colonies over the winter coming into 2008.?

There has also been a shift in the region suffering most from CCD.

?East Coast beekeepers ? especially Florida beekeepers who travel up and down the East Coast ? took a dramatic hit in the 2006-07 period. Tens of thousands of colonies were lost.?

This year, the problem has largely moved to the West Coast. Beekeepers there ?lost tens of thousands of colonies last winter.?

It seemed to have happened just before, during or after they moved bees into almond pollination in California. A lot of colonies were empty and had to be transported back to the beekeepers? homes after almond pollination.

?These bees are being impacted by something that?s mysterious, but consistent. We just have to figure out the (offending) combination of viruses, microsporidians, chemicals and pollutants.?

Are crops already being impacted by the dearth of bees or have beekeepers been able to keep up so far?

?For the most part, they?ve been able to keep up. The good thing about honeybees is keepers can use management techniques ? utilizing honeybee biology ? to split healthy colonies into two. That?s one way to recover some losses. Artificial feed and other things can also build up colonies.

?If cattle or poultry (perish), it takes a long time to replace the animal and production. Honey bees are a bit different and that?s a good thing.?

But the ability to recover quickly can disguise deeper problems.

?People sometimes assume beekeepers are crying wolf about losses while there are just enough honey bees to get by. But that?s because keepers are doing what they must to survive by splitting colonies and using other management techniques.?

Asked about a rumored push to bring Mexican bees into the United States to pollinate crops, Hayes confirms such a possibility. ?One of the scenarios being considered involves almond pollination. Because of increased almond acreage due to prices, beekeepers are being paid a premium to bring in their colonies. The almond industry absolutely requires honeybees to carry pollen from point A to point B.?

In the event U.S. bee numbers come up short, ?Mexico ? being involved in NAFTA and GATT ? could petition the U.S. to allow its honey bees and keepers across the border. My guess is because of the scope and range and how lucrative almonds are, that could certainly happen.?

U.S. almond producers won?t be denied the opportunity to produce a crop. However, that could deepen U.S. beekeeper problems.

By allowing in Mexican bees, ?the Africanized bee issue would gain additional concern. But it isn?t just that. There could be more pests, predators and other concerns ? things that aren?t in the United States now.

?If anything like that happens, it would further weaken and, possibly decimate, the U.S. beekeeping industry.?

On the other hand, points out Hayes, such worries are all predicated on the idea ?that people care where their food comes from. I think USDA already projects that some 40 percent of our vegetables will be imported by 2015, or thereabouts. And the prediction is the U.S. will be a net food importer in 50 years. If people don?t care about that, they probably won?t care about U.S. bee health either.?

Hayes stresses that the public needs to understand that commercial beekeeping ? where hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of colonies are tended ? is an enterprise as agricultural as raising livestock or row crops. Too often, commercial beekeeping is seen as a ?bucolic activity in the backyard.?

That is a false perception. Beekeeping is hard work, not a weekend hobby.

Currently, so many products are being systemically applied to U.S. crops ?that we?re pushing honey bees very hard. As a result of all the things we?ve mentioned ? as well as factors we haven?t yet considered ? the bees have reached a tipping point. With CCD, it appears something finally pushed them over. The bees said ?We can?t keep this up.? And that?s why we?re seeing these dramatic losses.?

Meanwhile, aggressive Africanized bees are moving through the lower half of the country. ?They?re now in areas of Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. They?ll probably be crossing the Mississippi River in the next year, or so.

?Depending on who you believe, these bees have been responsible for three to 11 deaths in Texas. In Florida, we had the first human fatality due to them in April.?

Hayes is keen to separate the honey bees from their ?killer? cousins. ?We don?t want people thinking bees in the white boxes are part of the problem when they?re actually part of the solution.?

Asked to prognosticate on honey bee health, Hayes doesn?t see a dramatic improvement anytime soon. ?But it could get worse if we have another invasive pest, virus or disease added to the current list.

?It?s interesting that honey prices are on the rise a little. Some keepers on the East Coast are saying if honey prices are up, there is less reason to travel west for almond pollination.?

It costs about $9,000 one-way to drive a loaded semi from Florida to California. If honey prices stay up, beekeepers ?can save that transportation cost and stay afloat and keep their bees from being so stressed. That, of course, would take pollinators away from a growing almond crop. And that?s another reasons why Mexican bees could be an option.?

email: dbennett@farmpress.com
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[Shiloh]

Re: Honey Bee Losses Still a Problem in US

Source: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/42292.html

[BHoney bee disappearances could get worse, House panel told[/B
By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON ? [BA record 36 percent of the U.S. commercial bee colonies have been lost so far to mysterious causes this year and the worse may be yet to come, [/Bexperts told a congressional panel Thursday.

[BThe year's bee colony losses are about twice the usual seen following a typical winter, scientists warn. Despite ambitious new research efforts, the causes remain a mystery.[/B

"We need results," pleaded beekeeper Steve Godlin, from California's San Joaquin Valley. "We need a unified effort by all."

The escalating campaign against what's generically called colony collapse disorder includes more state, federal and private funding for research. Publicity efforts are getting louder ? a costumed Mr. Bee was seen wandering around Capitol Hill this week ? and lawmakers are becoming mobilized.

Colony collapse disorder is characterized by a sudden decline in a bee colony's population and the inexplicable absence of dead bees. First reported in 2006, the disorder was the chief cause for the 31 percent decline in bee colonies experienced last year.

"What seemed to be an aberration has unfortunately turned into a full-fledged crisis," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced.

Cardoza chairs the House horticulture and organic agriculture subcommittee, which convened the bee hearing Thursday morning. The hearing is the second of its kind chaired by Cardoza and it's part of a concerted strategy ? elements of which have already borne fruit.

Notably, [Bthe five-year farm bill recently approved over President Bush's veto authorizes ? but does not guarantee ? $20 million in new funding for bee-related studies. Additional bee-related research can be funded through other accounts, and the legislation requires an Agriculture Department report on the status of ongoing pollinator research. [/BThis is the first farm bill to specifically mention the word pollinator.

[BPrivate industry is also contributing. Haagen-Dazs, the Oakland-based ice cream company, has recently pledged $250,000 for bee-related research at the University of California at Davis and Pennsylvania State University. This is self-interest in action, as 40 percent of the company's flavors ? think Vanilla Swiss Almond or Cherry Vanilla ? depend in some fashion on honey bees.[/B

The company, for instance, buys more than 1 million pounds of almonds annually for its ice cream. Almonds, almost all of which are grown in California's San Joaquin Valley, require an estimated 1.3 million bee hives for pollination.

"Pollinators are an essential part of our business," Haagen-Dazs brand manager Katty Pien said.

]Steve Godlin's firm, for instance, currently manages more than 5,000 hives based in the San Joaquin Valley town of Visalia. Although he said this year's bees "look good" so far, he noted that "things started to unravel in the middle of July" last year. By October, Godlin had only about 2,500 colonies; he's been rebuilding ever since.

"There are some very important (research) projects just getting up and started, and we really haven't time to waste, or money," Godlin said.

Next month, the Agriculture Department expects to announce a new $4.1 million, four-year bee research project spanning multiple universities.[/B

So far, Agricultural Research Service Administrator Edward Knipling told the House panel, scientists believe that "various stresses" that can include parasites, pathogens and pesticides can build up in a bee colony and cause its demise. Some research has specifically identified a particular virus, called the Israeli acute paralysis virus, which is closely associated with colony collapse.

Further illustrating how political pollination works, Pien and other bee-friendly representatives hosted a Capitol Hill briefing Wednesday that lured participants with lots of free Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream cups. Dozens of congressional staffers fluttered by for a quick taste. Haagen-Dazs has retained a D.C.-based public relations firm to help make its case, while the American Honey Producers Association paid the lobbying firm Winston and Strawn $860,000 in the last two years, records show.

"Anybody who brings ice cream to the Agriculture Committee deserves a round of applause," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, the ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee.
McClatchy Newspapers 2008

 

[Farmer]

Re: Honey Bee Losses Still a Problem in US

Bees' decline could lead to higher food prices


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday.


Farmers say their businesses are feeling the sting of the decline of honey bees.

"No bees, no crops," North Carolina grower Robert D. Edwards told a House Agriculture subcommittee. Edwards said he had to cut his cucumber acreage in half because of the lack of bees available to rent.

About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion annually in crop value.

In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers have lost 36 percent of their managed colonies this year. It was 31 percent for 2007, said Edward B. Knipling, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service.

"If there are no bees, there is no way for our nation's farmers to continue to grow the high quality, nutritious foods our country relies on," said Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, chairman of the horticulture and organic agriculture panel. "This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore."

Food prices have gone up 83 percent in three years, according to the World Bank.

Edward R. Flanagan, who raises blueberries in Milbridge, Maine, said he could be forced to increase prices tenfold or go out of business without the beekeeping industry. "Every one of those berries owes its existence to the crazy, neurotic dancing of a honey bee from flower to flower," he said.

The cause behind the disorder remains unknown. Possible explanations include pesticides; a new parasite or pathogen; and the combination of immune-suppressing stresses such as poor nutrition, limited or contaminated water supplies and the need to move bees long distances for pollination.

Ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs and natural personal care products company Burt's Bees have pledged money for research and begun efforts to help save the bees.

The problem affects about 40 percent of Haagen-Dazs' 73 flavors, including banana split and chocolate peanut butter, because ingredients such as almonds, cherries and strawberries rely on honey bees for pollination.

Katty Pien, brand director for Haagen-Dazs, said those ingredients could become too scarce or expensive if bees keep dying. It could force the company to discontinue some of its most popular flavors, Pien said.

Haagen-Dazs has developed a new limited-time flavor, vanilla honey bee, and will use some of the proceeds for research on the disorder. Burt's Bees has introduced Colony Collapse Disorder Lip Balm to "soften your lips while saving honeybees."

The House Appropriations Committee approved $780,000 on Thursday for research on the disorder and $10 million for bee research. The money awaits approval by the full House and Senate.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/27/bees.food.prices.ap/index.html