Today’s NY Times has a story that I had also heard recently on NPR, about giant numbers of pollinating honeybees inexplicably dying around the country. Beekeepers in Texas and on the east coast have experienced the biggest losses, although west coast beekeepers are also suffering. And no one knows exactly why.
Now, in a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie, bees are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never returning to their colonies. And nobody knows why. Researchers say the bees are presumably dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted or simply disoriented and eventually falling victim to the cold.
As researchers scramble to find answers to the syndrome they have decided to call “colony collapse disorder,” growers are becoming openly nervous about the capability of the commercial bee industry to meet the growing demand for bees to pollinate dozens of crops, from almonds to avocados to kiwis.
Along with recent stresses on the bees themselves, as well as on an industry increasingly under consolidation, some fear this disorder may force a breaking point for even large beekeepers.
A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts. “Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,” said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation.
The bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the offseason to be normal.
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3 Responses to “Colony Collapse Disorder devastates pollinating honeybees around the US”
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February 27th, 2007 at 7:53 am
Colony Collapse Disorder is being attributed to pesticide use. I received the following information from the Pesticide Action Network:
A CCD working group was recently formed with researchers from the University of Montana, The Pennsylvania State University, the USDA/ARS, the Florida Department of Agriculture, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to analyze the problem. Their preliminary report indicates how pesticides may be a factor. According to the CCD report, “If bees are eating fresh or stored pollen contaminated with these chemicals at low levels, they may impact the bee’s ability to learn or make memories. If this is the case, young bees leaving the hive to make orientation flights may not be able to learn the location of the hive and may not be returning causing the colonies to dwindle and eventually die.” Porterville Recorder reporter Sarah Elizabeth Villicana interviewed a Terra Bella, California beekeeper, Eric Lane, who suspects harm to the bees is linked to imidacloprid, made by Bayer CropScience. “It is my personal belief that this chemical is responsible for thinning the bee population,” Lane said. “It was used it France and killed 70 percent of the bee population in France.”
February 28th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
It’s funny that hasn’t been mentioned anywhere else. Anyone seen any news stories that mention this, or the France issue?
July 13th, 2007 at 8:01 am
[...] probably read in the paper or seen in the news a story about the mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder in the United States, where huge numbers of honeybees around the United States were suddenly dying without [...]