The Fall and Rise of The Honey Bee By Peter Loring Borst
Dec 16, 2015
The Fall and Rise of The Honey Bee
By Peter Loring Borst
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Who invented electronic digital communication?
A. Bill Gates - 1970
B. Al Gore - 1950
C. Samuel Morse - 1836
1975
1988
2014
Honey Bees
in Decline
1947
That the bee population of the United States has been on the
decline for several years is common knowledge to beekeepers.
The public however, has not been made aware of how important
this decline is. Nor have the implications been brought in to
sharp focus.
1974
1974
“This isn’t something sudden.
It’s been happening for years,”
Harbo said. “We’re not going to
run out of bees.
I don’t think there’s anything to
worry about.”
The real magnitude of pollinator
declines is not easily
determined.
Accurate measurements are
essential for any meaningful
assessment of decline.
Source: Randy Oliver
scientificbeekeeping.com
Estimated numbers of managed bee hives in the U.S.
over the long term. The peak was reached near the
end of WWII, during which farmers were encouraged
by the government to keep bees.
Since 1961 the reported global stock of commercial managed honey bee hives has increased by approximately 45 per
cent
FAO STATS ON WORLD BEEKEEPING
Countries with more than one million managed hives
The estimate of the number of
wild colonies in Africa is 310 million.
Additionally, it was estimated in 1990
that Africanized bees made up hundreds of
million colonies in Latin America.
The total wild colonies is probably
well over 500 million worldwide.
Colony
Losses
1921
1947
Wintering colonies in proper condition with an
abundance of young bees, plenty of stores, plenty
of pollen reserves and reasonable protection. All
other colonies are removed before the winter
period begins.
This will decrease the winter loss, but it will
increase the number of hives that are empty. From
our own experience we find thirty-five out of one
hundred hives are empty each spring from all
causes and must be replaced one way or another.
So we admit frankly that, in our own practice,
we do not fool with queenless colonies, drone
laying colonies, poor honey producing colonies,
with queens no longer tenable, and we do not
try to winter any colony which is not in the
very best possible shape for winter. Now, is
this good practice or bad practice?
Winter losses are usually estimated from the
number of colonies that fail to survive. These
losses average 15 percent, and they
sometimes reach 50 per cent.
Actual winter losses may be much greater,
because the surviving colonies are below the
optimum condition.
C. L. Farrar (1944)
‘Disappearing diseases’ similar to CCD have long been described in honey bees, and are apparently a recurring feature of domesticated honey bee
populations.
Colonies of the domesticated honey bee have been in decline in the United States for sixty years. This
decline has been driven in part by economic forces, including the increased costs of disease management.
Nevertheless, honey bee colony losses in the U.S. have reached new highs in the past several years, exceeding 30% country-wide during the vulnerable
winter period.
Pathogen Webs in Collapsing Honey Bee Colonies, 2012
Disappearing
Disease
Disappearing Disease
THE DISEASE OF 1868. During the past season a disease suddenly appeared in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, sweeping away whole apiaries.
So quiet were its operations that the bee-keepers became aware of its existence only by the
disappearance of their bees.
The hives were left, in most cases, full of honey, but with no brood and little pollen; the whole
appearance of the hive causing the casual observer to suppose that the bees had
“emigrated;” but close observation showed that they had died.
1966
Disappearing Disease During recent winters beekeepers in some parts of
California have been puzzled by what appears to be a rather rapid disappearance of bees from their hives. Strong
colonies heavy with honey and pollen, apparently at their prime for overwintering, suddenly start to decline for no apparent reason during autumn, and collapse within six
weeks.
The disorder is now officially known as “Autumn Collapse” but has also been called “disappearing disease” because no
sick or dead bees could be found in failing colonies. The disorder has caused loss of up to 90 per cent of the colonies in affected apiaries. Similar losses have occurred in parts of
Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and New Mexico. The disorder was first noticed during the winter of 1961-62.
1966
Disappearing Disease
Disappearing disease of honey bees has been observed by beekeepers in at least 27 states and in every
geographical region of the United States.
Inspectors describe occasions when adult worker bees disappeared during periods of cool, damp weather or
when an adult population failed to build up for no identifiable reason.
One large scale queen breeder and several commercial beekeepers indicated that they had experienced DD
and that in some cases large numbers of colonies were affected.
The
Marketplace
Despite attention given to pathogens,
parasites and pesticides, those factors may
not bear primary responsibility for the long-
term downward trend in the number of US
honey bee colonies which was underway well
before the arrival of parasitic mites and
problems with CCD.
Calderone, 2012
Parasitic Mites Introduced into U.S
The beekeeping industry has proven
remarkably resilient, replacing colonies that die
throughout the year in time for the next season.
This resiliency may be based on economic factors,
especially the price of honey and opportunities for
pollination contracts.
Economic opportunities may play a
greater role in explaining the
long-term trend than other factors.
Calderone, 2012
Border closed to US packages
To maintain its competitive position, the
beekeeping industry will need to develop a
sustainable, market-based system of bee
breeding and colony management that can
continue to provide an adequate and reliable
supply of high quality, healthy pollinators at
competitive prices.
Calderone, 2012
U. S. Fruit Production and Value
Almonds
A preliminary analysis of the data show that the
mortality rate over the 2013-14 winter varied
between countries, ranging from 6%
in Norway to 14 % in Portugal, and there
were also marked regional differences
within most countries.
The overall proportion of colonies lost was 9%, the
lowest since the international working group
started collecting data in 2007.
The Fall and Rise of The Honey Bee