Bye Bye, Bees--Their Demise is Unquestionable Threat to Agriculture

There's  a "must read" article by Amy Ellis Nutt in the Newark, New Jersey-based  Star Ledger of April 15  about the crucial importance of honey bee colonies  to agriculture, and the alarming demise of said colonies across the country.

"While honey and honmey products account for only a small fraction of the nation's agriculture, 140 billion commercially raised honeybees are responsible for pollinating about $20 billion worth of crops, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.

Throughout the spring and summer months, waves of migratory beekeepers follow the blossoming trees and orchards up and down the United States. Driving 18-wheelers, they truck crates of millions of bees to farms in rural and suburban hamlets--to fields of sweet clover in Colorado; to the sun-drenched citrus groves of Florida; the cucumber and melon patches in Virginia; the apple orchards in Maine, New York and Wisconsin; the cotton fields in West Texas; the almond trees in California; and the cranberry bogs in New Jersey." 

Nutt notes that in New Jersey bees pollinate 80 percent of the state's crops and yet there is no bee expert on the state payroll. She also reports that unlike farmers, beekeepers receive no subsidies for their work. Many bee experts have given up the business in recent years.

The Congress has taken a look at this issue, though the USDA evidently tallies little information re where beehives are and what exactly they are pollinating:

"Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture heard testimony from commercial apiarists, as well as scientists, regarding the new threat to the American beekeeping industry. One of the experts, Penn State University entomologist Diana Cox-Foster, said that a recently convened research group is looking into three hypotheses for the unprecedented die-off:

New or re-emerging pathogens

Environmental pesticides suppressing the immune system of bees

A combination of stresses working together to weaken bee colonies and cause final collapse. "

Nutt reports that her sources target GM corn as the prime culprit, however.  The chemical imidacloprid coats the corn kernels, in order to repel insects. Imidacloprid is toxic to honeybees and was fingered as the reason for a huge die-off of bees in France during the 1990's.

Apparently, across the U.S., many hives placed near cornfields have completely emptied. Apiarists are calling this baffling phenomenon Colony Collapse Disorder.

( Against my "better" judgement, given recent news reports, Global Warming et al, I am seeing CCD as a metaphor for..........us?   It's no great mystery.   A--We in the United States need to rigorously control access to guns; B--We need to focus on issues important to overall human health and well-being. )

Comments

[KathyF]

Okay, I have another theory. Bear with me...the other day I went to feed a neighbor's dog, and when I was letting myself in, a bumblebee attacked from the wreath on her door. I suspect he was angry because the wreath was artificial! Her house was full of artificial flowers, and I got to thinking...the bees are angry, because we've replaced the beauty of nature with fake flowers!

Or else it's global warming. I dunno.

[rubyquail]

I've noticed a decline in bee population for several years. I have an apple tree that used to buzz with thousands of bees every spring and this year, I've seen approximately 10 bees visit the apple blossoms. Perhaps the bees are the canaries predicting our gloomy food future. Please, if you have bee hives around your house - deal with it. Too many people freak out and kill them... really, really bad idea. To bee or not to bee, that is the question and I'm afraid the answer is close at hand.

[rubyquail]

By the way, I "planted" fake flowers in my desert-like front yard, believing to be a water conservationist in our water-thirsty state of New Mexico. So, should I plant real flowers and water them for the bees?

[foodie]

Today I was pruning an old rosemary bush--it has become a tree, in fact--and its purple flowers were attracting bees. So, yes, Ruby--do plant real things, water them deeply, and let the bees moisten their knees!

It is tough to interview a bee, KSF, butI suspect they are indeed annoyed by the time wasted with fake flowers!

[nanceinnm]

Bees beeing or not beeing is another big deal, since a big chunk of what mammals, two-legged and four, chow down is dependent on the littles buzzers. Not to mention all the other benefits of the plants bees pollinate. The last report I read in Science News says that a possible combination of sources is causing the bees to progressively and simultaneously lose their sense of direction, sense of smell and ability to communicate. The cohesion of the colony is destroyed and the bees just drift off to die alone, abandoning the queen--something never documented before that I know of. This horror follows destruction from disease and varroa mites, more invasive blessings of "free trade."
BTW: The permaculture folks are having a bee class this Saturday, 4/21. They haven't confirmed that I'm in, but if I go I'll fill y'all in on the latest.

[Bugman]

The decline in bees is do to several factors, pollution being a main one. In particular, our overuse of pesticides. We broadcast spray pesticides for mosquitoes and probably kill more bees than anything else. We spray entire forests for moths and bark beetles and severely impact any bees in the area. We are growing genetically engineered corn with Bt pollen which may devastate the bee population in areas where corn is grown. Albert Einstein once said that if all the honeybees disappeared, all the plants and animals, including man, would follow in less than four years. Einstein was correct. We need to focus on finding safer alternatives to pesticides.

[Marie]

i found your reporting on the honey bee blight very informative,
not to mention distressing. i was wondering if you had heard of the
bee keeper in Manhattan, who has over 200 hives on various rooftops.
So far his bees are thriving! Please continue to keep us informed
about the bees.

[Debra of Dayton]

Am very sad about the bee situation. The article you referenced is excellent, and, of course we have been reading about the subject in the press. I love honey. It really is amazing, eh? Very sticky but washes off easily. And I use it to sweeten just about everything--except my husband. Wonderful on muffins and rolls and bread and crumpets. And to think these lovely creatures created honey for us. One can hope that things will work out for the best soon.

D.

[Foodie]

Dear DOD---Some husbands just do not take to sweetening, do they? (We know who you are...)

[Foodie]

A Belgian friend emailed us this: One of my three bee colonies does have Colony Collapse Disorder.
I think residual pesticides are damaging the food
of the bees. It's not new, but I suspect imidachlopride as deadly
residual.

[Cynthia]

In Chicago, City Hall is topped by a garden and hives full of bees. I was recently at an event where we enjoyed honey from those hives. So on a positive note, people are working to restore bee populations, and it is working well in some places.

Several of our forest preserves also have on-staff bee keepers and "cities" of hives. The program is partly supported by sales from honey. So people are working on the problem. And we have seen repeatedly that, when people start working on something, nature bounces back -- it's designed to do that.

[Foodie]

Thanks, Cynthia--here's a good look at City Hall's green roof project.
http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/summer2004/greenroof.html

[Ezra]

More on bee population decline, and their importance to agriculture (and agribusiness):
http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/06sum/bees1.asp

[Foodie]

Thanks for the superlative link, Ezra!