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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Honey Bee Crisis
  • Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 10:20:24 -0400


This is one article (http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/0...702051445
00)
<http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/02/05/bees_ani_02.html?category=travel&guid=20070205144500)>...
other links are posted below

Honey Bee Die-off Alarms Beekeepers
Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News



Feb. 5, 2007 — Something is wiping out honey bees across North America
and a team of researchers is rushing to find out what it is.

What’s being called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has now been seen in
Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and way out in
California. Some bee keepers have lost up to 80 percent of their
colonies to the mysterious disorder.
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"Those are quite scary numbers," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture’s lead apiarist. Whatever kills the bees
targets adult workers which die outside the colony — with few adults
left inside, either alive or dead. The disorder decimates the worker bee
population in a matter of weeks.

Aside from making honey, honey bees are essential for the pollination of
tens of million of dollars worth of cash crops all over the United
States. That’s why almond growers of California, for instance, are
taking notice and pledging funds to help identify and fight the honey
bee disorder.

Among the possible culprits are a fungus, virus, or a variety of
microbes and pesticides. No one knows just yet. On first inspection, the
pattern of die-offs resembles something that has been seen in more
isolated cases in Louisiana, Texas and Australia, vanEngelsdorp said.

"Right now our efforts are on collecting as many samples as possible,"
said vanEngelsdorp. Bees that are collected are carefully dissected and
analyzed to see what might have killed them.

Other researchers are keeping track of the problem using Google Earth,
as well as cutting edge hive-sniffing and eavesdropping technology to
investigate the problem.

"We’re trying to sort out the myriad of variables," said Jerry
Bromenshank of the University of Montana and Bee Alert Technology, Inc.
"We’ve sent teams to Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, and California. The
scenario was about exactly the same everywhere we looked."

The locations of the bees are put on a global database to see it there
is any geographic pattern. Bromenshank also uses a groundbreaking audio
analysis technique that allows them to hear specific changes in bee
colony sounds when specific chemicals are present. Chemical air sampling
in hives is also being planned, he said.
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Just how bad the bee problem is right now is unknown, since the first
cases came at the end of 2006 and many colonies in northern states are
not active yet.

As spring awakens honey bee colonies, it will be vital that beekeepers
send information to the scientists, regardless of how well or poorly
their bee colonies are faring, said Bromenshank. For that purpose the
scientists have put together a confidential beekeeper survey on their
Website, http://maarec.org <http://maarec.org/>.

"Beekeepers overwintering in the north may not know the status of their
colonies until they are able to make early spring inspections," said
Maryann Frazier, apiculture extension associate in Penn State's College
of Agricultural Sciences. "This should occur in late February or early
March.

"Regardless, there is little doubt that honey bees are going to be in
short supply this spring and possibly into the summer."


http://www.ccnmag.com/news.php?id=4833

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6102931&nav=HMO6HMaY
<http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6102931&nav=HMO6HMaY>

http://wfmz.com/view/?id=60583

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/0...0702051445 00
<http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/02/05/bees_ani_02.html?category=travel&guid=20070205144500>




  • [permaculture] Honey Bee Crisis, Lawrence F. London, Jr., 04/08/2007

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