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Problems in the Hive

The Serious

Issue of

Falling

Honeybee

Populations

and How You

Can Help

By Krystal Iseminger

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A thoughtful question, especially if you like eating fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Though they produce products like beeswax and honey, bees serve a far greater purpose as crucial pollinators of

crops. Pollination—the act of transferring pollen between male and female plants—leads to fertilization which produces seeds and fruits. According to the Mid-Atlantic Apicultural Research & Extension Consortium’s fact sheet, “more than 100 agricultural crops in the United States are pollinated by bees. About a third of the food Americans eat comes directly from the pollination honey bees perform.” Large-scale beekeepers travel across the United States with their hives-for-hire, helping to pollinate crops from California to Florida. Look at the labels on the produce at your local supermarket and you will see how the food we consume is linked to successful pollination. Failing bees equal failing crops; failing crops lead to empty shelves and more expensive products.

Why are

honeybees

important?

While beekeepers do lose bees naturally due to winter weather, viruses, and parasites, bee numbers since 2006 have been falling abnormally. The concern was so great that it was given a name (Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD) and a variety of organizations and foundations were created to track honeybee populations in managed colonies. Beeinformed.org’s website offers yearly reports on population losses as well as a host of other research on mites, disease, habitat destruction, and pesticide effects. The information presented in these documents proves there is

Is there

really a

problem?

Yes!

Courtesy of beeinformed.org- Honey Bee Winter Loss

Survey, 2014-2015

Figure 1: Summary of the total colony losses overwinter (October 1 – April 1) and over the year (April 1 – April 1) of managed honey bee colonies in the United States. The acceptable range is the average percentage of acceptable colony losses declared by the survey participants in each of the nine years of the survey.

Figure 2: Total annual loss (%) 2014-2015 by state. Respondents who managed colonies in more than one state had all of their colonies counted in each state in which they reported managing colonies. Data for states with fewer than five respondents are withheld.

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cause for concern. While the actual causes of such significant population loss are disputed by the scientific and beekeeping communities, it is safe to say that no single variable is the ultimate cause. It is also apparent from these documents that there is no miracle solution. On a national scale, many initiatives are being suggested or adopted to mitigate the effects of some threats, but, with losses continuing to exceed acceptable ranges in winter and summer losses on the increase in some colonies, the honeybee is not in the clear.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CCD

“is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker

bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of

food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature

bees and the queen.” The EPA website suggests that bee losses

due to CCD (those tracked during the winter loss season) have

leveled out over the last five years, but other studies note that,

though winter losses are not as great, summer losses have

started to rise as well.

Because of research into the severe collapses between 2005 and 2010, scientists now

offer a variety of reasons why honeybees are struggling to maintain healthy numbers—

reasons that may include the increase of invasive mite

species, the diseases and parasites often transmitted by

those mites, increased pesticide use, stress from habitat

change and management practices, poor nutrition, and

immune system breakdown. While measures are being

taken at the national and state level, not all such measures

are well-received.

Some major beekeeping businesses are taking the

signs to heart and striving to use safer, more sustainable

practices. It is also suggested that one of the reasons numbers are starting to even out is the

increase of people or groups operating on a smaller scale both rurally and in urban settings.

Whether or not CCD poses a long-term threat, the research shows that bees are facing

real issues that we cannot predict the outcomes of. An increase of parasites here, or a

decrease in habitat there, could push struggling numbers back into even steeper decline. The

word in the beekeeping community is to be proactive, to give bees optimal conditions now

so they can thrive in the face of threat.

What is

Colony

Collapse

Disorder?

Two Varroa on a honey bee with deformed

wing virus. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Wilson.

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1. Be Informed:

Understand issues

facing your area.

Geographic location, climate factors, and area crop patterns all affect the way honeybees interact with your neighborhood. You need to know what types of native bees visit your city and state in order to implement other helpful strategies. One of the best methods for finding this information is to contact local nature centers, beekeeping websites, and extension offices (hyperlinks are for the Wichita, KS ). Understanding what bees need to survive seasonal changes and challenges like drought, wind, or heavy rain allows you to maximize your efforts and not waste time implementing strategies unnecessary for your local bees. 2. Be Proactive: Take simple measures to encourage bee population growth. The Natural Resources Conservation Service encourages landowners “to provide quality pollinator habitat and protect pollinators.” In translation, that means three factors to consider: providing food source and shelter and minimizing threats. The first part is the easiest and most obviously beneficial for humans and bees alike. Plant bee-friendly flowers to make yards and patios attractive and productive

for bees. You may not have a hive, but, with home-beekeeping on the rise, it is possible bees from kept or wild hives may come across your yard. By

How Can I

Help

Honeybees?

making it a convenient food source with flowers, fruit trees or shrubs, and vegetables, you and the bees benefit: the more bees, the more pollination. You get more tomatoes and flowers, and the bees mark your place as five-star restaurant. The second aspect of quality habitat is actual living space. While starting a hive may be an option for some, not everyone has the time, space, or money to contribute in this way. Information from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service website suggests that “by leaving dead trees, or at least an occasional dead limb [in your yard], you provide essential nesting sites for native bees. Make sure these are not a safety hazard for people walking below.” You can also build a bee condo (as shown on the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation fact sheet) for native bees to give them safe places to nest. This is not a maintained hive; think of it as setting out the building materials and letting the bees do the rest. 3. Be Mindful: Problems with pesticides In order to minimize threat to pollinators from pesticides, the USDA’s Forest Service website calls for a “thoughtful, educated approach to chemical use, and to a reduction and ultimate elimination of its use.” While you may not be ready to stop using all pesticides and herbicides, consider ways to cut back and minimize the threat of such treatments, like reading labels and spraying at night when bees are not active. Natural pest management and organic pesticides like insecticidal soap are not only better for the bees, they are less harmful to

Coneflower– a wildflower

especially attractive to bees

and other pollinators.

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the soil and cause less pollution in water run-off. It also pays to consult your county extension office and other local gardeners to find out what native plants are disease and bug resistant. Sometimes picking the right plants takes care of pest problems.

Connect with local beekeepers for support and advice. This is the most important step as they will know your area better than a guidebook and are little more than a Google search away. Do your research. You wouldn’t buy a car, home, or appliance without getting all of the specifics, would you? Your bees (living creatures rather than inanimate objects) will depend on you to give them a good start. You owe it to them to be thorough. Consult online guides or books recommended by your experienced beekeepers to make a detailed plan for shelter, food, and seasonal adaptations. Shop around. Once you have a plan supported by local research and solid background information, begin looking for suppliers for everything from the hives to the bees. Be picky and, when possible, shop local. It benefits your community, and they know better than anyone else what works best for your area.

The role of pesticides in pollinator decline. Courtesy of The Pollinator Stewardship Council

How do I

start my

own hive?

How else can I get involved in honeybee conservation?

Be an educator. Learn what you can and pass it on to others (friends,

neighbors, anyone who will listen). Make use of local resources for

education like nature centers, colleges, 4H clubs, or agricultural

extension offices.

Support national foundations for research and conservation. See the resources section to

find more ways to support bee-friendly initiatives and research.

What if I

cannot start

a hive?

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The Bee Informed Partnership- http://beeinformed.org/

Bee Health at eXtension.org- http://www.extension.org/bee_health

Heartland Honey and Beekeeping Supply- http://www.heartlandhoney.com/

Bees-on-the-Net- http://www.bees-on-the-net.com/kansas-bee-clubs/

University of Florida Honeybee Research & Extension Lab- http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/honeybee/research.shtml

Resources and Further Reading