The mysterious deaths of the honeybees

CNN Money ^ | 5:28 PM EDT | Amy Sahba

[mmanager]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Beekeepers throughout the United States have been losing between 50 and 90 percent of their honeybees over the past six months, perplexing scientists, driving honey prices higher and threatening fruit and vegetable production. At a House Agricultural Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., today, members of various organizations came together to share their concerns about what they have been calling the "Colony Collapse Disorder," or CCD. Honeybees have been mysteriously dying across the United States, sending honey prices higher and threatening the agriculture industry.

[Miss Marple]

This is why I use hardly any pesticides in my garden (and believe me it is pretty tough to forego them during Japanese beetle season). I figure they need all the help they can get.

Dropping pesticides also allows for other pollinators...various other types of bees and butterflies, as well as hummingbirds.

[A knight without armor]

"Consider the source, CNN. I won't believe it until the Weather Channel reports it."

It's true because I heard it on Coast to Coast with that Noory guy.

[dinasour]

> I searched it...sorry

Don't be sorry. I didn't search either, but I found this thread, not any of those.

[Mom MD]

I've got a bumper crop of wasps in and around my house. Hate the things. Is there any way we could trade them for bees? (Or can we take whatever is killing the bees and give it to the wasps?) Got stung in my bedroom at 6:30 in the morning last fall, and I am still on the warpath

[Imnidiot]

That &^$% BUSH did it!
Bush lied, bee's died

[leadpenny]

Oh, No! A true conservative.

Good for you, MM.

[duckworth]

I work outside a lot, and I keep a journal just to entertain myself about things I notice. Over the past 15 years I've noticed the comings and goings of many different types of insects. Sometimes every nook and cranny is covered in earwigs. The next year you never see an earwig. Sometime the trees are covered in boxelder bugs. The next year there are none. I thought I noticed one year after an especially brutal winter in the Northeast (1996), there were very few bees. In fact it was delightful for my kids because the year before they were plagued by bees.

That is all.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

From the Mid Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium

(MAAREC, established in 1997, is a regional group focused on addressing the pest management crisis facing the beekeeping industry in the Mid-Atlantic Region. A task force has been established with representation from the departments of agriculture, state beekeeping organizations, and land-grant universities from each of the following states: New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Also participating in the task force is a representative of the USDA/ARS (Beltsville Bee Lab, MD).)

http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/ColonyCollapseDisorder.html

Colony Collapse Disorder

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the name that has been given to the latest, and what seems to be the most serious, die-off of honey bee colonies across the country. It is characterized by, sudden colony death with a lack of adult bees in/in front of the dead-outs. Honey and bee bread are usually present and there is often evidence of recent brood rearing. In some cases, the queen and a small number of survivor bees may be present in the brood nest. It is also characterized by delayed robbing and slower than normal invasion by common pests such as wax moth and small hive beetles.

New! Summary of Research on the Non-target Effects of Bt Corn Pollen on Honeybees (3/28/2007)

CCD Working Group Summary of Purpose and Responsibility
 
Fall Dwindle Disease (Now renamed Colony Collapse Disorder) Preliminary Report

Map of U.S. States Reporting Colony Collapse Disorder

New! CCD Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (3/2007)

New! Tentative Recommendations for Hives Experiencing CCD (3/9/2007)

Fall Dwindle Disease talk - Austin, Texas (2/07)

CCD Podcast: listen online by selecting "Browse all of Honey Bees in Crisis", and then click on "Colony Collapse Disorder". Or subscribe to the RSS feed for iTunes.

How beekeepers can help:

Complete the survey found at www.beesurvey.com

Colony Collapse Disorder Press Release (1/30/2007)

[SmoothTalker]

"Dropping pesticides also allows for other pollinators...various other types of bees and butterflies, as well as hummingbirds."

Now that you mention it you dont see as many butterflies around anymore.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

Happening in Europe, too.....see paragraph 3 and below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/14/wbees14.xml

I wish it were tinfoil-hat stuff, but I don't think so....

[KoRn]

"Now that you mention it you dont see as many butterflies around anymore."

I've noticed this as well. They used to be everywhere, and now they seem to be very rare.

[stylecouncilor]

ping

[FateAmenableToChange]

We lost 100% this winter. Of course, it's only 3, but the landowner also lost 3 of 4 hives. Prices are up substantially for new bees.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

it seems to coincide with the africanized bee scare.

the following would seem about right re the Afros reaching the US......

"Tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi) were first reported in the United States from Texas in 1984. By 1992, severe colony losses due to tracheal mites were recorded throughout Ohio. Tracheal mites are microscopic parasites that live in the breathing tubes of adult honey bees where they feed on bee blood. Suffering colonies have dwindling populations, do not cluster well, and often die in the winter, frequently leaving behind large amounts of honey. Infested adults may act irritated or disoriented. Weak adults may be found crawling aimlessly near the entrance of the hive. Unfortunately, tracheal mites cannot be positively identified without dissecting the bees under a microscope. Two materials, vegetable oil patties and menthol, are useful in suppressing tracheal mite populations. Eradicating mite populations is not practical. Since any material only suppresses mite populations temporarily, beekeepers should be prepared to contend with tracheal mite infestations indefinitely."

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2164.html

more on bees/mites:
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=bees+tracheal+mites&btnG=Google+Search

[Fairview]

It's not funny. This is going to be a real problem. Fruit doesn't just grow by magic; the bees pollinate it.

[Ditto]

I remember reading about this several years ago happening out in the west. I'm thinking it must be biological (a virus, fungus, or parasite) rather than pesticides since, if I understand it correctly, it has seemed to have migrated geographically over a number of years rather than happen in many places all at once.

[Revelation 911]

Fruit doesn't just grow by magic; the bees pollinate it.

Im sensing a plot by the mexicans to create farm labor jobs as pollinators

[Semi Civil Servant]

Bees must pollinate about a third of the fruits and vegetables humans eat. No bees, no crops.

The enviro-wackos have cried "Wolf" over nothing so many times, a whole lot of people take this story with a grain of salt.

Unfortunately, this appears to be the real deal. And nobody seems to know what's causing the die-offs.

[OpusatFR]

They are important, yes, but plants are pollinated by more than bees.

There are also very strong hives of Africanized honeybees showing increasing spread. (Despite all the hysteria.) They produce great quantities of honey, too.

I've noticed the honeybees in our area are quite healthy and increasing as of last year after a decrease in the population.

You can help by planting open-pollinator cultivars and by planting flowers in red/pink hues that bees prefer.

Another thing is to keep your use of pesticides down. I don't use any unless I have a severe infestation, but fortunately I've been able to take care of it before that point is reached.

[vox humana]

Thank you for posting the Colony Collapse Disorder links.

You are to be commended for doing your research, unlike some FReepers at the beginning of this thread who thought CCD was just MSM propaganda.

I don't know why so many FReepers make these BS posts when they know NOTHING about a subject.