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Scientists, beekeepers not sure what is killing the honey bees

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By BECKY MARTINEZ

bmartinez@crescent-news.com

Albert Einstein once said, "If the bees disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left." Unfortunately, bees are disappearing across the country and no one knows why.

The sudden die-off of honey bee colonies has been termed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Paulding County resident Wayne Stoller, who raises bees and honey -- mostly as a hobby -- said he had about 155 hives and lost them all. "I sent my last hives, about 101, to California to help with the almond pollination and they were all dead by Dec. 1."

"I know a man in Junction who lost three hives. Five hives used to pollinate the Williamson farm died, two hives located west of Latty perished," said Stoller. He sent about 100 of his dead bees to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lab in Texas and is waiting to see what it finds.

Some losses across the country are greater than those locally. Reading from the American Beekeeping Federation newsletter, Stoller said, "One beekeeper lost 11,000 of his 13,000 colonies, another 700 of 900, another 2,500 of 3,500, another virtually all of his 10,000."

According to the USDA, CCD first became apparent along the East Coast during the last few months of 2006. It has since been reported nationwide. Stoller said if a state isn't reporting CCD, they probably aren't producing much honey.

More than honey, bee pollination is involved in one-third of America's diet. "The monetary value of honey bees as commercial pollinators in the United States is about $15 billion annually," according to the USDA.

To help with the pollination of crops, beekeepers send their hives to different states to be "rented out" by producers.

Crops which rely heavily on bee pollination include almonds, apples, blueberries, melons, plums, avocados, cucumbers, pears, cranberries, cherries, kiwis, cauliflower, carrots, onions, celery and sunflowers. "The market value of these pollinated fruits and vegetables ... is 75 times greater than that of bees' honey and wax production," said Bill Mares in Bees Besieged.

In the past, Stoller said beekeepers received a pollination fee of about $35 a hive. Now, because bee populations are dwindling, the pollination fee is anywhere from $100-$150 a hive.

Like all other scientists and beekeepers in the country, he does not know what is causing the death of the bees but suggested a couple of causes: mites, stress or nosema.

Tracheal mites, which entered the scene in 1984, live in the trachea of the bee and cannot be spotted unless the bee is dissected. Varroa mites showed up in 1987. Stoller explained that the adult female Varroa mite attaches itself to an adult bee and is carried into the hives. They kill the bees by sucking the hemolymph from the adult bees or laying their eggs on the bees' pupae, where the young mites feed off the hemolymph of the developing bee.

Stoller said when the mites first entered the scene, "I lost 200 hives that year."

Varroa mites can be treated using certain chemicals, but these are not used until after the honey crop is harvested and damage may have already been done to the bees.

Mites, aside from being deadly, are also a stressor along with bad weather, the age of the queen, or other diseases.

"Long confinement causes a lot of stress in a hive. A bee needs to fly, at least once a month, to empty itself. In order to fly, it needs to be at least 50 degrees and dry.

"Also, you need a young, vigorous queen. Queens should be replaced every two-three years," said Stoller.

Though Stoller was concerned with nosema being a possible cause of CCD, according to the May 2007 issue of Bee Culture magazine, nosema has been ruled out as a cause. "Nosema is a spore that affects the bee's gut and shortens their lives. To help prevent this, beekeepers are supposed to feed their bees sugar syrup with fumagillan," said Stoller.

Bee Culture writer Malcom Sanford suggested beekeepers feed the bees fumagillan even though nosema is not believed to be the underlying cause of CCD. "Infection with nosema is a stressor that can reduce the bees' tolerance to other disease agents," he wrote in the May 2007 issue.

The USDA also cites mites and stress as possible causes of CCD along with disease, known and unknown pathogens, poor nutrition, lack of genetic diversity and lineage of bees, chemical residue possibly from pesticides, or a combination of factors.

"In 1997," Mares wrote, "Sixty beekeepers from 22 states owning over 125,000 colonies reported pesticide damage to over one quarter of their hives (36,000)."

Another possible cause, U.S. Congress has been asked to investigate the use of genetically modified crops.

Sudden losses of hives have occurred in the past. The USDA reported that honey bee colony losses are not uncommon. However, current losses seem to differ from past situation in that:

-- Colony losses are occurring mostly because bees are failing to return to the hive which is largely uncharacteristic of bee behavior.

-- Bee colony losses are rapid (occurring within two days to one week).

-- Losses are occurring in large numbers.

-- The cause has scientists and beekeepers baffled.

In lieu of their losses, most beekeepers are starting over. Stoller bought 25, three pound packages of new bees out of Georgia to start new hives; they arrived the first part of April. "You want to have about 50,000-60,000 bees in a hive by July 4 to get the top honey crop. New bees emerge from their eggs every 21 days. We like to have three cycles a season."

When asked if he believed CCD was a threat to America's agriculture, Stoller said to ask him next year. "If I have another collapse like this, I'll be worried."

Congressman Dennis Cardoza, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's subcommittee on horticulture and organic agriculture, said in March, "I am deeply committed to raising awareness of CCD and its impact on American agriculture. Farmers and beekeepers across the country are dependent on honey bees for their livelihoods. It is imperative that we move swiftly to get to the bottom of this, before the problem becomes even more serious."