A yearly survey of
beekeepers, released today, shows fewer colony losses occurred in the United
States over the winter of 2013-2014 than in recent years, but beekeepers say
losses remain higher than the level that they consider to be sustainable.
According to survey results, total losses of managed honey bee colonies from
all causes were 23.2 percent nationwide. That number is above the 18.9 percent
level of loss that beekeepers say is acceptable for their economic
sustainability, but is a marked improvement over the 30.5 percent loss reported
for the winter of 2012-2013, and over the eight-year average loss of 29.6
percent.
More than three-fourths
of the world's flowering plants rely on pollinators, such as bees, to
reproduce, meaning pollinators help produce one out of every three bites of
food Americans eat.
"Pollinators, such
as bees, birds and other insects are essential partners for farmers and
ranchers and help produce much of our food supply. Healthy pollinator
populations are critical to the continued economic well-being of agricultural
producers," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "While we're glad
to see improvement this year, losses are still too high and there is still much
more work to be done to stabilize bee populations."
There is no way to tell
why the bees did better this year, according to both Pettis and Dennis
vanEngelsdorp, a University of Maryland assistant professor who is the leader
of the survey and director of the Bee Informed Partnership. Although the
survey, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of
Maryland Bee Informed Partnership shows improvement, losses remain above the
level that beekeepers consider to be economically sustainable. This year,
almost two-thirds of the beekeepers responding reported losses greater than the
18.9 percent threshold.
"Yearly
fluctuations in the rate of losses like these only demonstrate how complicated
the whole issue of honey bee heath has become, with factors such as viruses and
other pathogens, parasites like varroa mites, problems of nutrition from lack
of diversity in pollen sources, and even sublethal effects of pesticides
combining to weaken and kill bee colonies," said Jeff Pettis, co-author of
the survey and research leader of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee
Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland. ARS is USDA's chief intramural
scientific research agency.
The winter losses survey
covers the period from October 2013 through April 2014. About 7,200 beekeepers
responded to the voluntary survey. A complete analysis of
the bee survey data will be published later this year.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) also announced today that it will hold a summit this fall
aimed at addressing the nutrition and forage needs of pollinators. The summit
will take place in Washington D.C. on October 20-21 and will be attended by a consortium
of public, private, and non-governmental organizations. Attendees will discuss
the most recent research related to pollinator loss and work to identify
solutions.
Additionally, USDA
launched the People's Garden Apiary bee cam at the USDA headquarters in
Washington, D.C. as an additional effort to increase public awareness about the
reduction of bee populations and to inform Americans about actions they can
take to support the recovery of pollinator populations. The USDA "BeeWatch" website will broadcast honey bee hive activity live over the Internet 24 hours per day,
7 days per week. Created in 2010, the People's Garden Apiary is home to two
beehives. The bees are Italian queens, the most common bee stock and the same
used in many honey bee colonies throughout the United States.
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