More heavy honeybee losses over the winter : 30% died

But it's not getting worse... apparently.

More heavy honeybee losses over the winter

Survey finds colonies 30 percent drop, but 'at least it is not getting worse'

Honeybee colonies in the United States reduced in number by 30 percent over the 2010-2011 winter, according to a recently released annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA).

The loss was actually lower than for the previous winter, 2009-10, which saw a 34 percent drop in honeybee populations. A 29 percent drop in 2008-9, a 36 percent loss in 2007-8, and a 32 percent decline in 2006-7 preceded the new data.

Bee disappearing :

Of particular interest to the entomologists was the data on colonies that were likely lost because of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a phenomenon where worker bees from a colony abruptly disappear. The beekeepers therefore experience a significant loss, but see no dead bee bodies. For this latest winter, such probable CCD losses came to 31 percent.

Compared to earlier years/decades :

We averaged 10 percent winter losses before parasitic mites, around 20 percent winter loss when two parasitic mites (Varroa and tracheal mites) arrived in the 1980s, and now with CCD we are over 30 percent losses in the fall and winter."

"This does not include losses of bee colonies in the summer and spring," he added. "Some beekeepers have 50 percent of their colonies that need to be replaced each year."

So it's way worse than let's say, the 70s when only 10% died...

reply to post by Vitchilo


My basic personal observation is there are more this year than last, at least within the pollinating plants I've watched over the last few years...let's hope!

CJ

reply to post by Vitchilo


I have noticed -- my bees this spring, were Very late.. we had NO bee pollination, on our Cherry trees..!!

it wasn't till THIS week i saw larger quantities of bees working the Apple trees.. but the blossoms are older..


might be a terrible year for fruit,, in the pacific northwest...

I havent seen one bee yet here.. and I have a bee and hummingbird garden we planted to bring them in for pollination! Plenty of wasps though. My bat houses are still empty.. 2 yrs now. They all just disappeared one season and no bodies. One thing I have an abundance of are Mosquitoes.. Im tempted to go out and steal some bats from the state over and stick them in my bat houses just to thin out my bursting mosquito population It rained here for weeks on end.. no buckets or anything where standing water was our fault.. it was standing everywhere!

One curious thing.. Im older and have never seen this : this weekend we saw 2 sick deer right on the shoulder of the highway.. just sitting there while traffic went by. we slowed down to look as it was such an odd sight. I guessed they were sick because they were sitting there with their heads up and eyes open.. but they looked pretty rough. No bleeding as if theyd been hit.. but patchy or mangey looking.

Who knows whats going on anymore. In almost 5 decades on this planet Ive never seen with my own eyes the craziness that I have in the last 10-15 yrs with the environment and the whole world..

its not confined to USA

new zealand have issues as well

here in Australia, bee mites are not making news but I can tell you my parents keep bees and they have not been making honey for months (even during summer) and the bee society is quite concerned I can tell you

So the downward spiral continues for the bees, suffering from what appears to be multiple ailments. Here in Oregon I saw more this year than last, but the local bee keepers are still voicing concerns about number reductions. They have said there are more bees now compared to 06-07.
I am left wondering what could be done besides minimizing and/or eliminating the obvious damaging factors, which according to this piece could be:

Honey bees have the same basic needs as people: a safe place to live and raise offspring, an area to collect food and water, and an environment free of toxins. This was the message that I presented to a receptive group of business leaders in Ripley, Tennessee. Beekeepers understand that bees need a dry hive to protect the bees from the weather. The hive should be elevated to prevent it from flooding and to allow for air to flow around the hive. The hive must have provisions for ventilation. The hive’s honeycombs should be free of chemicals and disease spores. Places for honey bees and other pollinators to find food are becoming increasingly less common, especially in areas of industrial agriculture. The soil is often tilled to the edge of the field leaving no unplowed field margins. The result is the loss of bee forage and nesting area. Monocultural plantings of a single crop often reduce the available forage. Monoculture may lead to lower food quality due to a lack of a diversity of nutrients. Insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides in the environment as well as miticides used by beekeepers kill bees outright or build-up in the beeswax honeycomb of the bee hive. Broad-spectrum insecticides kill every insect present, including pollinators and other beneficial insects. Persistent insecticides remain in the soil for a long time and kill and weaken bees well into the future. Mixing together more than one chemical agent or increasing the strength of insecticide sprays are especially damaging to bees. I encouraged the business leaders to use their influence to help control the use of pesticides in agricultural settings, around homes and gardens, and on golf courses. Many attending were surprised that our entire luncheon was dependent upon insect pollinators with the single exception of the dinner roll

peacebeefarm.blogspot.com...
Is there any way to breed bees and try to propagate more for releasing to the wild/fields? I have heard of services that provide a truckload of bees to various farms, but could we step that up and do a global bee celebration year where free beehives are passed out for those interested, to do small set ups? Give the numbers a jump start, so to say.

What about bumble bees? Just today I thought about writing a thread on how many bumble bees were flying around my Rhodies...hundreds! What are the differences between pollination capacity between the two? I can't recall ever hearing about a bumble bee hive, so maybe the honeybees are greater in numbers? Guess I can google it, just thinking.
This honeybee issue seems to be gaining momentum in the public and so many of the experts agree that something must be done. Imo, chemical pesticides/fertilizers are plying a significant part in this. How much I don't know, but the toxic emanations and permeations for the plants/flowers/trees surely has a toll on the insects.

Peace,
spec

They may want to do a study on feral honeybees verses raised honeybee loses.
I do not buy my bees, my family and I capture feral swarms and unwanted colonies from homes.
We do not seem to have the same loses as others have reported.
I believe the feral bees to be more resilient due to the fact that they live in the wild and have survived most of the common threats.
Plus the fact that many of those reporting loses probably move their bees seasonally to provide pollination for farmers. All of that moving around probably affects them more than we currently understand.
The bees become very.........hmmmmmmm, accustomed (?) to their surroundings.
For instance, when they leave their hive they make note of where it is, if you were to move their hive, say, 30 feet they would fly back to where it was when they left and probably die there because they know that is where it should be.
Just my 2 cents as a bee keeper,
Quad

Originally posted by Highlander64
its not confined to USA

new zealand have issues as well

here in Australia, bee mites are not making news but I can tell you my parents keep bees and they have not been making honey for months (even during summer) and the bee society is quite concerned I can tell you

Hmm.. honey in my area.. midwest USA.. the prices have definitely went up, specifically local. I wanted to get local from our farmers market and try the whole local honey as an allergy treatment for my oldest, and it was EXPENSIVE all of a sudden! This weekend for Dutch Gold pure golden honey I paid $8.95 for 16 ounces. I dont even want to look at the prices of Royal Jelly...

I will just add Serbia to your list of bees not producing as they should. Heavy geoengineering in the sky with aerosols making clouds to cool the earth. In April, in the middle of blooming flowers, they sprayed for 5 days and we had snow and extremely cold weather for that time of the year.

Here is an article also mentioning effects of GM food on bees intestines. GM food effects bees

Originally posted by Advantage
Who knows whats going on anymore. In almost 5 decades on this planet Ive never seen with my own eyes the craziness that I have in the last 10-15 yrs with the environment and the whole world..

I am joining you in that observation. I am also sad that there are people who do not wish to hear or see that something is different and not good at all.

Love to you all

Well the bees are increasing here in number, and a lot of those are the British black honey bee as opposed to the imports and hybrids.

The British Black/European Dark is not as susceptible to all the nasties plaguing the imports.. their over wintering capabilities are amazing..

My hope is the universities in Britain that are working on producing a solution using the British black come up with a concrete plan sooner rather than later.

Sussex Plan
www.sussex.ac.uk...

To breed and test a stock of hygienic, native British black honey bees, Apis mellifera mellifera, and to make this available to beekeepers to use in queen rearing and in hives.