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A Third of the Nation's Honeybee Colonies Died Last Year (usatoday.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the spoonful-of-honey dept.

A third of the honeybees in the United States were lost over the last year, part of a decade-long die-off experts said may threaten our food supply. USA Today reports: The annual survey of roughly 5,000 beekeepers showed the 33% dip from April 2016 to April 2017. The decrease is small compared to the survey's previous 10 years, when the decrease hovered at roughly 40%. From 2012 to 2013, nearly half of the nation's colonies died. The death of a colony doesn't necessarily mean a loss of bees, explains vanEngelsdorp, a project director at the Bee Informed Partnership. A beekeeper can salvage a dead colony, but doing so comes at labor and productivity costs. That causes beekeepers to charge farmers more for pollinating crops and creates a scarcity of bees available for pollination. It's a trend that threatens beekeepers trying to make a living and could lead to a drop-off in fruits and nuts reliant on pollination, vanEngelsdor said. So what's killing the honeybees? Parasites, diseases, poor nutrition, and pesticides among many others. The chief killer is the varroa mite, a "lethal parasite," which researchers said spreads among colonies.

8 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Impacts by quantaman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There are two things I'm really curious about with this.

    1) What are the real impacts of the die-offs? ie are is the total stock of bees going into decline or are beekeepers needed to put in overtime in order to breed replacement stock.

    2) What's the cause of the decline in the decline? It looks like the loss has been slowly levelling off over the past few years, 30-40% is pretty drastic, is this evidence that they've evolving some kind of resistance to whatever is happening?

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    I stole this Sig
    1. Re: Impacts by walterbyrd · · Score: 3, Insightful

      My understanding is: the same pesticides (neonics) are used in Australia, but bees in Australia are fine.

      Maybe it's pesticides and the parasites together that are proving too much for the bees?

  2. Imagine That by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You mean that genetically engineering the nation's major food crops to create their own pesticides is harmful to HELPFUL insects too? Pffft. Next you'll be telling us it's toxic to humans.

  3. What about natural bee colonies ? by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No mention of their state of health. Only the ones enslaved by keepers.

    1. Re:What about natural bee colonies ? by Rei · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Enslaved" is a pretty mean way to describe having their shelter provided by the beekeeper, along with routine inspections for (and treatments of) parasites that would kill them. Yes, the keeper will rob honey from the hive, but not enough to kill it during the winter - and may well supplement the hive for the winter. Keepers that offer pollination services also move their bees from one rich food source to the next.

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      You're treating a symptom while the disease rages on. The fish rots from the head. Why not cut off the head?
    2. Re:What about natural bee colonies ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Enslaved? Are you REALLY that stupid? Do you need a safe space?

  4. Re:Honey bees are invasive by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The honey bee is an invasive species in North America.

    So are humans.

  5. Re:Honey bees are invasive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I fail to see the problem here

    Then you must be a complete idiot.