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HONEY BEE DIE-OFF ALARMS BEEKEEPERS, CROP GROWERS AND RESEARCHERS
Science Daily / Penn State/College Of Agricultural Sciences
April 23, 2007

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070422190612.htm

An alarming die-off of honey bees has beekeepers fighting for commercial
survival and crop growers wondering whether bees will be available to
pollinate their crops this spring and summer. Researchers are scrambling to
find answers to what's causing an affliction recently named Colony Collapse
Disorder, which has decimated commercial beekeeping operations in
Pennsylvania and across the country.

"During the last three months of 2006, we began to receive reports from
commercial beekeepers of an alarming number of honey bee colonies dying in
the eastern United States," says Maryann Frazier, apiculture extension
associate in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. "Since the
beginning of the year, beekeepers from all over the country have been
reporting unprecedented losses.

"This has become a highly significant yet poorly understood problem that
threatens the pollination industry and the production of commercial honey in
the United States," she says. "Because the number of managed honey bee
colonies is less than half of what it was 25 years ago, states such as
Pennsylvania can ill afford these heavy losses."

A working group of university faculty researchers, state regulatory
officials, cooperative extension educators and industry representatives is
working to identify the cause or causes of Colony Collapse Disorder and to
develop management strategies and recommendations for beekeepers.
Participating organizations include Penn State, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, the agriculture departments in Pennsylvania and Florida, and
Bee Alert Technology Inc., a technology transfer company affiliated with the
University of Montana.

"Preliminary work has identified several likely factors that could be
causing or contributing to CCD," says Dennis vanEngelsdorp, acting state
apiarist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. "Among them are
mites and associated diseases, some unknown pathogenic disease and pesticide
contamination or poisoning."

Initial studies of dying colonies revealed a large number of disease
organisms present, with no one disease being identified as the culprit,
vanEngelsdorp explains. Ongoing case studies and surveys of beekeepers
experiencing CCD have found a few common management factors, but no common
environmental agents or chemicals have been identified.

The beekeeping industry has been quick to respond to the crisis. The
National Honey Board has pledged $13,000 of emergency funding to the CCD
working group. Other organizations, such as the Florida State Beekeepers
Association, are working with their membership to commit additional funds.

This latest loss of colonies could seriously affect the production of
several important crops that rely on pollination services provided by
commercial beekeepers.

"For instance, the state's $45 million apple crop -- the fourth largest in
the country -- is completely dependent on insects for pollination, and 90
percent of that pollination comes from honey bees," Frazier says. "So the
value of honey bee pollination to apples is about $40 million."

In total, honey bee pollination contributes about $55 million to the value
of crops in the state. Besides apples, crops that depend at least in part on
honey bee pollination include peaches, soybeans, pears, pumpkins, cucumbers,
cherries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.

Frazier says to cope with a potential shortage of pollination services,
growers should plan well ahead. "If growers have an existing contract or
relationship with a beekeeper, they should contact that beekeeper as soon as
possible to ascertain if the colonies they are counting on will be
available," she advises. "If growers do not have an existing arrangement
with a beekeeper but are counting on the availability of honey bees in
spring, they should not delay but make contact with a beekeeper and arrange
for pollination services now.

"However, beekeepers overwintering in the north many not know the status of
their colonies until they are able to make early spring inspections," she
adds. "This should occur in late February or early March but is dependent on
weather conditions. Regardless, there is little doubt that honey bees are
going to be in short supply this spring and possibly into the summer."

A detailed, up-to-date report on Colony Collapse Disorder can be found on
the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium Web site at
<http://maarec.org>.

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PREVIOUS NHNE NEWS LIST ARTICLES:

HONEY BEE EXPERTS GATHER TO POOL KNOWLEDGE (4/22/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12880

HONEY BEE DIE-OFF RESOURCES (4/17/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12857

ARE MOBILE PHONES WIPING OUT OUR BEES? (4/15/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12851

BEE COLONIES ACROSS U.S. CONTINUE TO DIE (4/7/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12825

ARE GM CROPS KILLING BEES? (3/23/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12754

HONEYBEES VANISH, LEAVING KEEPERS IN PERIL (2/27/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12647

U.S. BEE COLONIES DECIMATED BY MYSTERIOUS AILMENT (2/14/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12588

PARASITE DEVASTATES U.S. BEES (5/2/2005):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/9104

MAD BEE DISEASE (2/20/2001):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/1181

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Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
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