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Dying honeybee population threatens U.S. agriculture
A state bee expert is warning of a nationwide honeybee crisis after a survey released today revealed that one-third of commercial beekeepers' colonies died over the winter, the fourth consecutive year that's happened.
"These numbers are all indicators that a crisis is coming. It will reach a perfect storm, the way the credit crisis did," said Dennis van Engelsdorp, a bee researcher with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
Nearly 34 percent of the country's managed honeybee colonies were lost over the winter, according to the survey of 4,331 beekeepers.That compares to losses of 29 percent in 2008-09, 35.8 percent in 2007-08 and 31.8 percent in 2006-07.
Honeybees are used to pollinate everything from apples to pumpkins to blueberries and add $15 billion each year to agricultural output in the United States, according to the USDA. Crop production could be at risk if honeybees are found in increasingly short supply and if cash-strapped beekeepers leave the business, which some insist they might be forced to do.
"All told, the rate of loss experienced by the industry is unsustainable," according to the survey, conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the United States Department of Agriculture's Honey Bee Lab in Beltsville, Md.
Not all losses stemmed from Colony Collapse Disorder, a syndrome identified three years ago that is characterized by the death of an entire bee colony, van Engelsdorp said. Bees also are under great threat from a variety of mites and viruses, and also from poor nutrition. The impact of pesticides on honeybees also is under increasing scrutiny by researchers, environmental groups and beekeepers themselves.
In some cases — notably the recent almond pollination in California — demand for bees has dramatically outstripped supply.
"There was a scramble for bees at the end of almond pollination," said Joe Traynor, a bee broker in the state's San Joaquin Valley, where more than 1 million bee colonies are used each February to pollinate the state's vast almond crops.
Bee colonies, which a decade ago rented for $60, cost as much as $170 this February in California.
"The growers insisted they would not pay more than $100 per colony. Many paid a lot more than that," said Dave Hackenberg of Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania's largest commercial beekeeper. Hackenberg hauls his bees to California most years.
During the past year, he lost 62 percent of his bee colonies.
Source: pittsburghlive.com
A state bee expert is warning of a nationwide honeybee crisis after a survey released today revealed that one-third of commercial beekeepers' colonies died over the winter, the fourth consecutive year that's happened.
"These numbers are all indicators that a crisis is coming. It will reach a perfect storm, the way the credit crisis did," said Dennis van Engelsdorp, a bee researcher with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
Nearly 34 percent of the country's managed honeybee colonies were lost over the winter, according to the survey of 4,331 beekeepers.That compares to losses of 29 percent in 2008-09, 35.8 percent in 2007-08 and 31.8 percent in 2006-07.
Honeybees are used to pollinate everything from apples to pumpkins to blueberries and add $15 billion each year to agricultural output in the United States, according to the USDA. Crop production could be at risk if honeybees are found in increasingly short supply and if cash-strapped beekeepers leave the business, which some insist they might be forced to do.
"All told, the rate of loss experienced by the industry is unsustainable," according to the survey, conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the United States Department of Agriculture's Honey Bee Lab in Beltsville, Md.
Not all losses stemmed from Colony Collapse Disorder, a syndrome identified three years ago that is characterized by the death of an entire bee colony, van Engelsdorp said. Bees also are under great threat from a variety of mites and viruses, and also from poor nutrition. The impact of pesticides on honeybees also is under increasing scrutiny by researchers, environmental groups and beekeepers themselves.
In some cases — notably the recent almond pollination in California — demand for bees has dramatically outstripped supply.
"There was a scramble for bees at the end of almond pollination," said Joe Traynor, a bee broker in the state's San Joaquin Valley, where more than 1 million bee colonies are used each February to pollinate the state's vast almond crops.
Bee colonies, which a decade ago rented for $60, cost as much as $170 this February in California.
"The growers insisted they would not pay more than $100 per colony. Many paid a lot more than that," said Dave Hackenberg of Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania's largest commercial beekeeper. Hackenberg hauls his bees to California most years.
During the past year, he lost 62 percent of his bee colonies.
Source: pittsburghlive.com
Publication date: 4/30/2010
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