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Jan. 24, 2008

What's Wrong With The Bees?

Steve Kroft Reports On The Mysterious Disappearance Of Bees

  • Play CBS Video Video What's Wrong With The Bees

    Over the past year, some beekeepers have lost up to 90 percent of their hives. The losses could have serious effects because honeybees help produce a third of the foods we eat. Steve Kroft reports.

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    Find out how global warming, air pollution and alternative forms of energy impact our world.

(CBS)  But the seasons don't wait for science. With losses mounting and contracts to fill, the Hackenbergs decided to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy new bees and rebuild the hives.

Hackenberg admits he thought about giving up. But asked why he didn't, he says, "Well, I got a lot of farmers out here who depend on me. "

Brian Campbell of Berwick, Pa., is one of those farmers. He grows pumpkins. Without bees, he tells Kroft, his business wouldn't be profitable.

Campbell figures he needs 30 bee visits per flower to pollinate 300 acres of pumpkins, all headed to Wal-Mart for the Halloween trade. "If it's not pollinated, this is gonna dry up and fall off," he explains.

And with bees in short supply, Campbell was more than willing to pay Hackenberg $27,000 to rent 12 million of them for six weeks, double the usual price. "We need those bees. They’ve got to come up with a conclusion here," Campbell says.

Congress is expected to fund additional bee research with the new farm bill, but hardly anyone is talking about helping the beekeepers, who David Hackenberg calls the "ugly stepchildren" of agriculture. He told 60 Minutes the cold weather this fall and winter will pose a crucial test for him -- and for his bees.

What will happen if there is another die-off?

"I'm probably out of business," Hackenberg predicts.

Asked what he would do, Hackenberg says, "I don't know. This is all I've done [in] my life."

"If there's another big die-off of bees, some beekeepers, maybe many beekeepers are going to go out of business," Professor Spivak predicts.

What would that do to fruits and veggies at your local supermarket?

Says Spivak, "We won't have the quality fruits. We may not have the quantity of fruits and vegetables. And this could mean higher prices at the grocery store. And it'll hit the public directly."

"Just yesterday, you know, the farm manager of one of the largest blueberry companies in the United States called me to see, 'How are you doing? How are the bees doing?' You know, they're concerned, because they need these bees next year. I mean, we got through this year, but what's gonna happen next year?" Hackenberg wonders.

"And you don't know?" Kroft asks.

"That's right, we don't know," Hackenberg says. "Nobody knows."


That was six months ago. So far this year, the news is not good. When 60 Minutes caught up with David Hackenberg this week in California, he told us more than half of his bees had once again disappeared.


Produced By Andy Court and Keith Sharman
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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by baldwell February 27, 2008 1:02 AM EST
Pesticides a factor? Probably. The aerosol spraying of the skies by silent planes for the last ten years a factor? Probably. Genetically modified plants courtesy of Monsanto and others, which have already proven to kill the Monarch butterfly a factor? Probably. Bee colony collapse as serious a problem as Einstein claimed when he said mankind wouldn''t survive without the honeybee pollination? Quite possibly. The chances that *** Cheney may survive with his plastic heart in an underground bunker when grocery shelves look like they did in Russia in the 1950''s? Probable. The greedy and foolish shall inherit the hellish mess they''ve left of the earth after they''ve taken their spoils. God help the nasty sonsabitches. The rest of us will be gratefully, peacefully, resting. Selah.
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by bamagirl2008 February 26, 2008 5:59 PM EST
I don''t know what is happening to the bees but I wish someone could explain the following to me: About 3 years ago, I noticed a large number of bees buzzing around my front porch. It was probably early summer in Bama so not that unusual to see a bee or two. But I had never had a problem before. I shoo-ed those bees away but within a week or so, I had thousands of bees hanging in large clumps off of the eaves of the roof, off of ceiling and off the edges of my front porch! It appeared they were nesting inside a tall hollow column. Hated to kill them all, but they were blocking the front door. I called 4 or 5 exterminators before finding one willing to tackle that task - and it was hysterical. The exterminator got in his truck with a window cracked and his nozzle of "bug spray" poking through the window. (He wasn''t about to stand outside in the open and spray all those bees.) He then tried to drive around and around my parking pad spraying from different angles to reach them all. They dropped dead in mounds and, after a while, I went outside and swept them up. It was all very "Amityville Horror" - remember all the flies against the windows? That''s how I felt looking through my leaded glass door watching the bees take over my porch. Since that time, I''ve never had a problem with bees. Anyone have any thoughts on what prompted the bees to take over my front porch?
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by ggray12-2009 February 26, 2008 4:49 PM EST
I have heard that the issue of CCD is non existent on ORGANIC farms. Perhaps 60 Minutes could pursue this. This finding would support the pesticide theory.
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by alexandergp February 26, 2008 2:13 PM EST
Maybe the bees are smarter than we are. Perhaps they are tired of being hauled across country and when dropped off they find a better haven nearby. Amazing there is a shortage but the beekeeper could go and purchase other ones. Perhaps children are hiding them so that they won''t pollinate veggies and kids won''t hear, "eat your vegetables." Maybe it is just another "let''s scare the *** out of everyone story."
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by rf35 February 26, 2008 12:58 PM EST
" What is needed is for people to stop education and get back to what God created us for..."

Singinrick, did you change your name to KellyAFische? No, guess not, I can tell by the tone.
This post must be a sarcastic joke. Nobody could actually be this stupid.
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by dongbeating February 25, 2008 11:48 PM EST
Bees didn''t start dying until we started spraying for the gypsy moths. I think the goverment knows all about this. They only spray late at night.
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by cwilley5 February 25, 2008 11:12 PM EST
if the bees are leaving their honey behind and the bees from other colonies do not take the honey left behind, what is wrong with the honey? should humans be consuming honey, should we be concerned about the health issues of eating raw honey? i consume alot of raw unpasteurized honey because it''s my understanding that it is beneficial to my health. orange blossom and tupelei honey are popular here in florida, so what''s the risk?
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by crazybob9 February 25, 2008 10:57 PM EST
This is the second story in as many weeks involving Bayer. Remember that this same company performed ''medical'' experimentation on Jews during Germany''s Nazi era. I think the same horrible moral ethic is at work in today''s Bayer, and in many other multinational corporations.
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by kofiananimus February 25, 2008 10:51 PM EST
Posted by koko98: "There is nothing wrong with the bees. I was out in my yard last weekend and the plants were literally crawling with bees."
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Was this posted by Bill O''Reilly??? Sounds like something he''d say... "Clearly New Jersey has a larger population than California, ''cause when I walk outside in Newark, NJ I see thousands of people, and when I walk outside in Eureka, CA I hardly see anyone"
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by liebestode February 25, 2008 9:15 PM EST

As I have written last year in the San Francisco Chronicle, March 10 and November 10, 2007, there is ample evidence to give genetically modified crops a closer look as one of the causes of CCD. My own research has shown that non-farmland bees thrive and produce more honey than their farmland peers. The honeybee issue obscures the more serious observation that ALL insect species are being affected. John McDonald
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by kellyafische February 25, 2008 7:51 PM EST
Education is responsible for genetic modification, engineering, chemical planting and ultimately death of whole species. At one time all chemicals were considered harmless until years later proved deadly. What is needed is for people to stop education and get back to what God created us for...(Genisis chapter 1 Holy Bible) make the earth a beautiful paradise. He created everything and afterward declared it good. Do you think imperfect humans can make better what God has already done? Just get back to the waterfall and move the rocks around, make more benches, plant more fruit trees! It is that simple, wonderful, beautiful and joy filled! Then all the bees and animals will be healthy and happy too!
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by ivandrago February 25, 2008 7:28 PM EST
Q: What does "partial" ban mean???

A: Used only on crops that would not attract bees, and don''t need to be pollinated by bees?
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by shogl February 25, 2008 7:15 PM EST
Hmmmm... If that beekeeper thinks it''s smart to stick his head in a hive full of bees, he might want to tackle that compulsion first and only THEN work on increasing his honey business.
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by excoachken February 25, 2008 7:05 PM EST
The only Bees who have "something wrong" with them are the S.O.B.s in the Bush Administration!
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by pbdobb February 25, 2008 6:43 PM EST
Evidence may point to genetically modified crops. Many of these are engineered with a death gene to prevent the seeds from being able to reproduce (to protect intellectual property). This may have an effect on pollen (bees use this as a protien source, and in the production of royal jelly). Without royal jelly no queens can be produced. A hive without a queen, or that has no reproduction will die.
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by rebmalovell February 25, 2008 6:26 PM EST
My question is if another country has already banned use of this pesticide why in the world are we using it here. If its not good for them why would it be good for us.
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by kellyafische February 25, 2008 6:06 PM EST
Whenever a family in Wisconsin has kids getting stung by bees, I ask them where their trash can is. They usually point to a black garbage bag of recycle aluminum pop cans as general area where the kids are getting stung. Also, when you walk out of the door of the college, the bees are hanging around. Why? They are sucking the pop out of the cans. Old cans. Cans with molded pop in them. THAT SHOULD BE A RESEARCH TIP.
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by rf35 February 25, 2008 5:40 PM EST
I''ve never been big on organic foods, but here''s an idea. The beekeepers only allow organic farmers to hire their bees. If the bees remain healthy, then you know it''s something chemical causing the problem.

Rick, maybe God can just make us some more bees. Why don''t you ask next time you visit him?

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature...It is the opium of the people."
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by godseyesore-2009 February 25, 2008 5:33 PM EST
pollengirl1 is promoting "controlled pollination". China already uses large numbers of people to do some of that on specialized fruits. That may ultimately be what he HAVE to do, but hopefully not. I personally want to spend my time on things other than pollinating plants.
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by godseyesore-2009 February 25, 2008 5:01 PM EST
singinrick asked, Does Darwin offer death, or life?

Astounding that I have to actually spell things out, but answer is NEITHER. Darwin is simply stating the way nature works, period. Your value judgements show how ignorant you are of the world in which you exist. So, tell us all again, just what is your planet of origin?
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