Survey: Honeybee Losses Continue To Mount

Losses of managed honeybee colonies nationwide totaled 33.8% from all causes from October 2009 to April 2010, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Beekeepers identified starvation, poor weather, and weak colonies going into winter as the top reasons for mortality in their operations.

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This is an increase from overall losses of 29% reported from a similar survey covering the winter of 2008-2009, and similar to the 35.8% losses for the winter of 2007-2008.

The continued high rate of losses are worrying, especially considering losses occurring over the summer months were not being captured, notes Jeffrey Pettis, research leader of ARS’ Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s principal intramural scientific research agency. The survey was conducted by Pettis and past AIA presidents Dennis vanEngelsdorp and Jerry Hayes. The three researchers said that continued losses of this magnitude are not economically sustainable for commercial beekeepers.

The 28% of beekeeping operations that reported some of their colonies perished without dead bees present—a sign of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)—lost 44% of their colonies. This compares to 26% of beekeepers reporting such dead colonies in the 2008-2009 winter and 32% in the 2007-2008 winter. Beekeepers that did not report their colonies having CCD lost 25% of their colonies.

As this was an interview-based survey, it was not possible to differentiate between verifiable cases of CCD and colonies lost as the result of other causes that share the "absence of dead bees" as a symptom. The cause of CCD is still unknown.

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The survey checked on about 22.4% of the country’s estimated 2.46 million colonies. The survey reports only winter losses and does not capture colony losses that occur throughout the summer when queens or entire colonies fail and need to be replaced. Those summer losses can be significant.

A complete analysis of the survey data will be published later this year. The abstract can be found at
http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/news/losses-2009-10

More information about CCD can be found at www.ars.usda.gov/ccd.
 

Source: Kim Kaplan, USDA-ARS news article

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Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

I believe there is a problem. However, last fall I had a Honey Bee hive find a spot in my house.
I call many many Michigan Bee keepers and they were not interested in saving the bees. They told me to hire a pesticide applicator to kill them.
SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM NOW.
Stop changing the food seeds maybe the bees will come back. I know its a good thing for us growers but a bad thing for the Bees.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

What was once an incredibly coveted “National Treasure” our precious miraculous honey bees, and other dynamic pollinators, were ignored to the point of their becoming a “commodity” in the eyes and minds of some owners…to be used, abused, sold, traded, sub-let, haphazardly transported, warehoused, treated as a “disposable,” experimented on . . . basically thrown under the proverbial “bus” as if their renowned resiliency would provide an absolute fail-safe for their welfare.
To the care-minded very devoted bee-husbands in our great country – WELL DONE and Keep Up Your Great Work!! To the abusers – shame on you!
The present demise of our honey bees is a result of many-many long-term compounded, very conscious, negligent, rather blatant abuses. Now we search for a quick-fix?? VERY thorough training and education of A-L-L their handlers must be implemented as a ‘foundation’ or any “cure” we produce will result in a short-term fix.
Above all – Long-term our National Treasures require the passionate mind-set of thorough respect and strident guardianship…our honey bees should never-ever to be mistreated or even mildly abused for “…profit at any price.” They are small and defenseless but they are one of God’s mightiest most incredible creations!
Thank you.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

I believe there is a problem. However, last fall I had a Honey Bee hive find a spot in my house.
I call many many Michigan Bee keepers and they were not interested in saving the bees. They told me to hire a pesticide applicator to kill them.
SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM NOW.
Stop changing the food seeds maybe the bees will come back. I know its a good thing for us growers but a bad thing for the Bees.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

What was once an incredibly coveted “National Treasure” our precious miraculous honey bees, and other dynamic pollinators, were ignored to the point of their becoming a “commodity” in the eyes and minds of some owners…to be used, abused, sold, traded, sub-let, haphazardly transported, warehoused, treated as a “disposable,” experimented on . . . basically thrown under the proverbial “bus” as if their renowned resiliency would provide an absolute fail-safe for their welfare.
To the care-minded very devoted bee-husbands in our great country – WELL DONE and Keep Up Your Great Work!! To the abusers – shame on you!
The present demise of our honey bees is a result of many-many long-term compounded, very conscious, negligent, rather blatant abuses. Now we search for a quick-fix?? VERY thorough training and education of A-L-L their handlers must be implemented as a ‘foundation’ or any “cure” we produce will result in a short-term fix.
Above all – Long-term our National Treasures require the passionate mind-set of thorough respect and strident guardianship…our honey bees should never-ever to be mistreated or even mildly abused for “…profit at any price.” They are small and defenseless but they are one of God’s mightiest most incredible creations!
Thank you.

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