Honeybees in the U.S. are still dying at an alarming rate. The story came to light four years ago, and it’s still true, according to Dr. Jeff Pettis, head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Bee Research Laboratory in Maryland. He said figures released in spring 2010 show that, during the winter of 2010, the U.S. lost 34%, or just over a third of its managed honeybee colonies.
Jeff Pettis: What’s unusual is that they’re dying in such high numbers and so rapidly, so it’s just this dramatic depopulation.
At first, scientists thought a new strain of disease might be responsible. Right now, he said, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Jeff Pettis: These bees have multiple viruses. They have multiple bacterial infections. And it’s the cumulative effect of all these that’s killing them.
Pettis explained that, like humans, bees are more susceptible to illness when they’re stressed.
Jeff Pettis: We ask a lot of them. We move them from crop to crop to pollinate and to feed on things that are not their ideal diet.
He added that low-level pesticide exposure also weakens bees immune systems. Armed with this knowledge, said Pettis, bee experts are increasingly focused on boosting bees’ general health to prevent population crashes. He underscored that this effort is not for the sake of bees, alone.
Jeff Pettis: About a third of our diet comes from things that are pollinated by insects. Often that’s the honeybee, in agriculture. That third is all the fruits nuts and vegetables that really enrich our diet.
Pettis said the trend of honeybees’ decline has been recorded by the USDA and the Apiary Inspectors of America for the past four years.
The USDA released its honeybee statistics in April of 2010. Dr. Pettis and his colleagues are still combing through to figure out more about what’s ailing the bees. He clarified that bees – while dying in large numbers in the winter months – can sometimes make up their population loss in the summer months. But, he told EarthSky, this is not done by entirely natural means. Beekeepers have to split a hive in half, and introduce a new queen. In other words, bees are still very much ailing and human intervention is needed to keep their numbers strong.
Jeff Pettis: The beekeeper may see a real strong colony one week, and then three weeks later they’re asking, “What happened?”
He said the mystery of honeybees’ decline is putting many beekeepers out of business, with consequences for agriculture. He mentioned particular crops like apples and almonds, which require pollination by bees. And he added that honeybees in the U.S. are not the only pollinators at risk.
Jeff Pettis: I and a number of other people around the world are working on pollinator health. It’s not just honeybees that are at risk. It’s what we call the 4 “b”s – birds, bats, bees and butterflies.
He said that people can get information online about what plants are useful in their particular geographical region for attracting bees, or pollinators, in general.
Special thanks to apiarist Dennis van Engelsdorp for his contribution to this article.
It could be genetically modified crops too, especially the ones that produce a pesticide in them. We need to go back to organic farming and stop poisoning our planet. Research EUGENICS.
@PK:
Humans have been ‘genetically modifying’ crops for centuries. Cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower … all the same plant. Bananas, corn, wheat… all modified by our predecessors.
Pest-resistant plants don’t have pesticides in them. They are simply a strain of plant that resists a particular pest naturally without having to resort to using potentially harmful chemicals.
Pollinators are not pests. They are not harmed by these strains. Instead (as is mentioned in the article), pollinators are being stressed by a number of other factors, including viruses and bacterial infections. Climate change may also be a contributing factor, although it is not mentioned, and would be difficult to verify.
As far as “EUGENICS” is concerned… that is a concept of selective breeding in HUMANS. Not plants. It is something that is contrary to most peoples’ concept of human rights and has nothing to do with agriculture. Now if you think that plants have some sort of ‘right’ to not be bred for their humanly-beneficial qualities, then by all means, stop eating just about everything in the produce section @ the store (including the ‘organically’ grown produce).
This could well be as a result of “chemtrails”
Aluninium & barium isn’t good for anything. See azskywatch.com & “what in the world are they spraying”
truthmedia.com Michael Murphy film maker.
I think there’s a mistake in the text in line 5?
It should be ” so that it’s just this dramatic depopulation of the hive. “?
Waiting for confirmation. :)
I think you misunderstood what i meant lj, i know what eugenics is. and your right about it. i’m saying we are being targeted by the gmo crops and all the chemicals that are in our food, water, vaccines, air, soaps, clothes, carpet, furniture, etc. for the purpose of eugenics. sperm counts are dropping world wide, cancer rates have increased thousands of percent in the last 60 years. the UN has called for massive world population reductions, so has the US, and european royalty. they are doing this on purpose.
we haven’t been physically splicing dna of plants and combining hundreds of different plants and animals into one abomination for “centuries” either. there’s a quantum level of separation between biotech and cross pollination.
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides/reg_of_biotech/eparegofbiotech.htm
here’s the environmental protection agency’s website explaining that yes, gmc crops do produce pesticides in them. and to throw a climate change remark out there you must be getting paid to write garbage like this. if not and you really believe this i hope you research it and stop consuming gmo foods and all the other chemicals in our daily lives. turn off the tv and start thinking for yourself.
it could be chemtrails too shairon b, no telling what all they’re doing to us with those.
At one time the tracheal mite and varoa mite were mentioned in USDA news briefs as contributing to increased honey bee premature death. If these mites are still negatively affecting honey bee populations, could these insects be the carriers of the lethal virus and unwanted bacteria?
Also, could not the apparently robust strains of Africanized bees be utilized to bio-engineer a more diseae resistant strain of bees that could more ably survive in difficult conditions? Just wondering…Jay
[...] bee populations, according to USDA entomologist Jim Cane. For the past few years, bees have been dying at an alarming rate. That’s trouble for farmers who need bees to pollinate their crops. Dr. Cane said bee pastures [...]
I am betting that the decline is due to wax moths and the diseases they carry.
A query rather than a comment. Re the strange fact that bees are sealing up their cells if they sense them to be contaminated with pesticide, can you tell me who owns copyright to the photo of these cells that appeared on the Guardian website with Fiona Harvey’s article? I edit a local online magazine for a rural Scottish island where people are extremely interested in such questions, and would very much like to reproduce the photo, but of course will not do this without permission. If it originates with Dr Jeff Pettis, I would be very grateful for some guidance on this.
Alison Prince