Michelle Jones Online: Honeybees Disappearing in the U.S.

I have long been a fan of natural honey, since I was a young child. That's almost half a century. And in order to have honey, that is--the good local kind, there must be honeybees.  Special honeys are named for the areas where they are harvested. I like them all, but Sourwood is my absolute favorite. We were able to get it in abundance when we lived in Roanoke, Virginia and again when we were transferred to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. But not here in Atlanta, Georgia, which is ironic, because you can get just about anything here in this big city.

In addition to being our beloved honey makers, they also do something else that is even more important; honeybees pollinate about 130 different types of crops. These crops could be wiped out without natural pollination.  "The value of estimated crops dependant on honeybees is estimated at more than $15 billion," advises, Bob Ellison of the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). The USDA estimates that one third of our food supply benefits from honeybee pollination.

Reports of honeybees dieing off or "leaving the US" go back to Feb. 2007 (USDA.gov & NY Times), and even 2006. But it's happening in other countries too. I can remember first hearing about it several years ago, or was that when the dreaded killer bees were making their way towards us?  Hmmm. Anyhow, the fact is, the hives are continuing to dwindle and it doesn't take a scientist to figure it out.  It's the toxins and chemicals that are all over our planet.  Probably the same ones that are killing us off.

There is an actual term that has been given to what is happening to the honeybee hives, it's called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD.  It means the worker bees in the colony are not returning to the hives, leaving the colony to collapse. It has been named a disorder because they are not sure if the bees are dieing off or just leaving the nest. And, they are not sure if it's because of genetics, chemicals from the environment or nutrition, or a combination of all.

In December of 2009, continuing studies by the USDA added more bad news for the bees, "The beekeeping industry in the United States has faced a number of obstacles to healthy bee management in recent decades. These obstacles range from arthropod pests such as tracheal mites (Acrapis woodi), varroa mites (Varroa destructor), and small hive beetles (Aethina tumida) to pathogenic diseases including Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and nosema (Nosema spp). According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the number of managed honey bee colonies used for honey production in the U.S. has decreased steadily since the late 1940's, with the most notable decline occurring in the late 1980's with the introduction of Varroa mites into the U.S. Here we summarize recent high winter losses in the U.S., placing these losses in historical context and attempting to distinguish 'Colony Collapse Disorder' from other causes of honey bee decline."

And here in Georgia, recent reports show our hives are continuing to decline in 2010 as well. In one case, however, a local beekeeper was made to get rid of his hives due to city ordinances, I believe he was going to find another location to move them to in order to save them. But the whole thing seemed ridiculous to me, in light of the bigger picture here. We need more honeybees, not less. I'm just glad they got things worked out.

Other beekeepers report that some hives are still thriving, while healthy bees won't go near a hive that has CCD. Scientists have still not been able to figure out what is causing the problem, or even how to begin to fix it. And yes, there is also a lot of taxpayer money being spent on trying to save the honeybees and the $150 billion dollars worth of crops that they pollinate. Crops which not only feed consumers, but also cattle and poultry.

Dr. Keith Delaplane, entomologist at the University of Georgia, heads a national research group with 16 other institutions throughout the country. They have been given more than $4 million to find out what's killing the honeybees.

Back in 2008, Graham White left an insightful comment on a community beekeeper web site in the UK, biobees.com, sharing his own logical conclusions free of charge. White wrote, "There is mounting evidence that the Neo-Nicotinoid family of systemic neuro-toxins are having a devastating effect on bees worldwide. Imidacloprid, Fipronil and now Cloanthinidin - have all been cited in mass-die-offs of tens of thousands of bee colonies in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the USA. Imidacloprid - manufactured by Bayer- has been banned in France since 1998; it was banned in Germany last week - along with Fipronil and Cloanthinidin. There is mounting evidence that the global use of these deadly, highly persistent, neuro-toxic insecticides - are probably at the root of Colony Collapse Disorder. The mass colony collapses have all occurred in areas where these pesticides have been introduced as a 'blanket solution.' Here in the UK Imidacloprid is used on approx 2.4 million hectares of Oilseed Rape, Potatoes, Peas, Beans, Winter Wheat and Barley. In France and the USA it is the dominant pesticide on all Sunflowers and Maize crops."

Bayer Crop Science released a statement that same year denying any accountability, "The bee die-offs which occurred in spring 2008 in Southwest Germany as the result of faulty application of the active ingredient clothianidin set off a controversial discussion on the use of pesticides for seed treatments. In the present case a number of maize seed batches had been incorrectly dressed – a fault for which Bayer Crop Science as the manufacturer is not to blame. Due to the incorrect dressing during the sowing of the treated maize seeds abraded dust particles – and with them the active ingredient – were spread over the surrounding area, where they were taken up by bees. This came about only because severe dryness, strong winds and the use of particular types of pneumatic sowing machines provided favourable conditions for drift, or made drift possible at all. In the meantime, the authorities have recognized these accidental circumstances being as the cause. As a consequence of the bee deaths, the German national registration authority ordered the suspension, for precautionary reasons, of the registrations for insecticidal pesticides used as seed treatments in maize and oilseed rape, including products based on clothianidin and another active ingredient imidacloprid. After detailed examinations, the authority lifted the suspension for applications in oilseed rape, reasoning that the possibility of comparable incidents during the oilseed rape sowing could be ruled out for technical reasons."

So, basically, we know what is likely causing the problem, but we're going to keep saying we don't, and we're going to keep doing absolutely nothing about it, except spend millions of dollars and debate about it for a few years until hopefully the problem either resolves itself or stays hidden away behind bigger issues.  Sounds very familiar.

If anyone has proof that our millions of missing honeybees have simply traveled to a fairer land in the distance and are safe and sound, please let me know.  Maybe they just finally found their FREEDOM...