Bee Health Remains In Decline, Study Shows

(AP)  A survey of bee health released Tuesday revealed a grim picture, with 36.1 percent of the nation's commercially managed hives lost since last year.

Last year's survey commissioned by the Apiary Inspectors of America found losses of about 32 percent.

As beekeepers travel with their hives this spring to pollinate crops around the country, it's clear the insects are buckling under the weight of new diseases, pesticide drift and old enemies like the parasitic varroa mite, said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, president of the group.

This is the second year the association has measured colony deaths across the country. This means there aren't enough numbers to show a trend, but clearly bees are dying at unsustainable levels and the situation is not improving, said vanEngelsdorp, also a bee expert with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

"For two years in a row, we've sustained a substantial loss," he said. "That's an astonishing number. Imagine if one out of every three cows, or one out of every three chickens, were dying. That would raise a lot of alarm."

The survey included 327 operators who account for 19 percent of the country's approximately 2.44 million commercially managed bee hives. The data is being prepared for submission to a journal.

About 29 percent of the deaths were due to Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious disease that causes adult bees to abandon their hives. Beekeepers who saw CCD in their hives were much more likely to have major losses than those who didn't.

"What's frightening about CCD is that it's not predictable or understood," vanEngelsdorp said.

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania's Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff announced that the state would pour an additional $20,400 into research at Pennsylvania State University looking for the causes of CCD. This raises emergency funds dedicated to investigating the disease to $86,000.

The issue also has attracted federal grants and funding from companies that depend on honey bees, including ice-cream maker Haagen-Dazs.

Because the berries, fruits and nuts that give about 28 of Haagen-Daazs' varieties flavor depend on honey bees for pollination, the company is donating up to $250,000 to CCD and sustainable pollination research at Penn State and the University of California, Davis.

[msay3]

adt14: At first glance I thought you were a ranting nut case, but after carefully reading your words, I think you really make some good sense. LOL

[baileyccc]

Great Story CBS, I expect the price of honey to triple.

[brianbwb-2009]

Check out Monsanto''s program for developing genetically modified plants that produce their own pesticides, then put two and two together...

[erasmus81]

"One thing of note, they were far more aggresive than usual this year."
Posted by rf35 at 02:17 PM : May 07, 2008

That can only mean one thing: THEY''VE ARRIVED.

[msay3]

There are many theories about Colony Collapse Disorder, one being that a viral infection destroys the bee''s homing instinct...They leave the hive to forage and can''t find their way back..Hence the fact that no diseased bees are found in or around the collapsed hive. Whatever the cause, it will eventually effect almost all of our lives. Honey is used in so much food and drink preparation, not to mention the other plants that don''t survive because of the lack of pollination. It''s been about three years since I have seen any honeybees in my garden :-(

[rf35]

This seems to be affecting mostly the commercial hives. My brother got stung by a wild bee just yeaterday when the hive swarmed. This hive in his neighbor''s tree has been swarming every year for the last decade or so. One thing of note, they were far more aggresive than usual this year.