In an age where news stories routinely describe such and such a virus as “only a plane ride away,” how can it be that honey bee colony losses of up to 70% in some areas of the US are treated as a complete mystery?
In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable.
“I have never seen anything like it,” Mr. Bradshaw, 50, said from an almond orchard here beginning to bloom. “Box after box after box are just empty. There’s nobody home.”
The sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country.
Beekeepers have fought regional bee crises before, but this is the first national affliction.
The disease itself might be a mystery, but the spread of it shouldn’t be, as the article itself illustrates.
Beekeepers are the nomads of the agriculture world, working in obscurity in their white protective suits and frequently trekking around the country with their insects packed into 18-wheelers, looking for pollination work.
Diseases spread by moving from one host to another. The more efficiently the transfer from host to host can be carried out, the swifter and more widespread the outbreak, and the more pressing the need to interrupt that mechanism. Honeybee colonies are disappearing faster than doughnuts at a cop convention, and researchers are scratching their heads and wondering “Gee, I wonder if trucking uninspected hives all over the country has anything to do with it?”
If this was a human disease with a similar mortality rate–Marburg or Ebola–that practice would have ceased almost immediately. The good news, if any can be gleaned, is that no disease kills 100% of the population it targets, so Apis populations should recover, as the immune hives reproduce.
Apiculture in general should assist in that recovery, but as long as hives are trucked back and forth across the country the potential for an outbreak similar to this one–or the Varroa mite infestations of the 80s and 90s–will be repeated. In the long run, ending that practice would be better for both honeybees and apiculture in general, as agricultural areas now relying on trucked-in bees would be forced to develop local populations to support pollination.
I’ve always wanted a hive of bees. Perhaps if the Department of Agriculture chose to subsidize local bee hives instead of millionaire farmers, I would start one.
TrustButVerify says:
A mite infestation (veroa or trachial) is my first guess. Second is yet another fungus, probably affecting brood. But there are new viruses appearing as well which bode evil…
28 February 2007, 4:43 pmIt’s creepy news, in any event; my parents were professional beekeepers for the first two decades of my life. (Still are to a lesser exent.) In my opinion it’s smelly, dull work but was infinitely preferable to the dawn-and-dusk drudgery of most other farming.
Max says:
Hadn’t there been a similar die-off nearly a decade ago?
28 February 2007, 10:02 pmThe Bees says:
So long, and thanks for all the nectar.
28 February 2007, 10:06 pmtexast says:
Here is a USDA site that has your answer; http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2005/051219.htm
Your partially right about transporting bees, but the “fouled brood” disease appears to have started in the Northeast. We don’t transport our bees, so not much of a problem. In fact it appears that we have a bumper crop of bees here in south Texas.
28 February 2007, 10:48 pmLTC Bob says:
Bigwig-
Among my other interests, I have a bee hive in the back yard. You should get some, the kids would love to see them, you can watch the queen lay eggs, see the brood, the honey, etc, - they actually don’t take that much time to mess with. I was checking mine out last week - I am over in Iraq now for a recon for our next trip over this summer.
Think about the bees, you won’t regret it.
Bob
4 March 2007, 1:47 pmLTC Bob says:
Bigwig-
Among my other interests, I have a bee hive in the back yard. You should get some, the kids would love to see them, you can watch the queen lay eggs, see the brood, the honey, etc, - they actually don’t take that much time to mess with. I was checking mine out last week - I am over in Iraq now for a recon for our next trip over this summer.
Think about the bees, you won’t regret it.
Bob
4 March 2007, 1:52 pmFrank McAvinchey says:
I have a friend in south Texas who runs a migratory bee operation. If anyone is able to prevent the spread of bee diseases it is those guys. They are on top of bee diseases, taking every precaution. The problem is, more than likely, that local beekeepers aren’t as prudent with their colonies. Not that migrating colonies don’t transport diseases, but if anyone is taking good care of their bees, it’s the migratory guys, because they’ve got multiple employees working constantly, actually around the clock most times, keeping the machine cranking. “In a multitude of counselors there is wisdom”.
5 March 2007, 9:25 amBigwig says:
Thanks for the info, Frank.
Glad to see you again, LTC Bob. I’ll keep an eye on for beekeeper meetings in the area. Send me any bird pics you might take, and I’ll put them up, now I’m back on the site again.
5 March 2007, 9:16 pm