New Pesticides May Be Killing Off Honeybees

by Molly Cotter, Inhabitat.com





Since 2004, the number of honeybees in the U.S. has been nearly cut in half. While similar massive declines are prevalent around the world, scientists are still trying to figure out what exactly is causing the disappearance of the honeybees. A new study by the U.S. government’s premier bee expert Dr. Jeffrey Pettis suggests that nicotine-based chemicals found in popular pesticides have a dangerous effect on exposed bees and could be a major contributor to the missing bee mystery.

Bees pollinate 70% of the world’s crops, and their diminishing presence is detrimental for farmers all over the world. Dr. Pettis spent months researching bees exposed to neonicotinoid chemicals and found even the tiniest amount made them three times more vulnerable to infection. The pesticide chemical attacks bees’ immune systems, weakening their bodies and often times confusing them, leading bees to wander away and lose their colonies.

The chemicals are very popular, and they were considered an environmental breakthrough because they can be applied to the seeds of a crop rather than the plant. While this and other studies bring pesticide issues to light, others believe the bee population decline to be related to weather, developmental, or evolutionary survival issues.

Bees native to Vancouver Island are ultra-efficient pollinators

ORCHARD MASON BEES AND THEIR CARE

from http://www.cvseeds.bc.ca/bees.htm

The Mason Bee can help pollinate our trees and crops

THE MASON BEE

Honeybee populations on Vancouver Island are rapidly being destroyed by mites. Blue Orchard Bees (Orchard Mason Bees ­ Osmia lignaria) are native to our area and are 17 times as efficient at pollination of fruit trees as honeybees. These bees are not available to fertilize later food crops as the parent bees die in early summer.

Mason bees may well be able to take over the fruit tree pollination if we give a little help.

The bees are about 7/16” long and look like blue bottle flies except for having 4 wings rather than two. The male is a little smaller and has two longer antennae. The female has long belly hairs to hold pollen.
Cells for laying eggs

ITS LIFE CYCLE

The bees emerge from their over-wintering nests in the spring after about three days of 14°C (57° F) maximum day time temperature. In nature, they generally have been in beetle-made holes or other similar narrow spaces. The males are the first to appear as they come from the outer portion of the “tube”. They feed briefly and await the females which come from the deeper part of the tube.

The natural emergence of these bees is generally around March locally, but this can vary artificially if the nests are man-made and are kept in cooler temperatures until the plum or early apple trees just begin to break into bloom. The nests are then moved to a warm location.

The females emerge 3-4 days later than the males, and fertilization occurs almost immediately. The males die soon afterwards without doing any pollination. The female gathers a little nectar and about 20 loads of pollen and builds a little pyramid inside a suitable nest site. Then a single egg is laid on its end in that mass of food. She then gathers about 10 loads of clayish soil and builds a wall which seals off the egg with its food supply. Hence the name, Mason Bee. This sequence is repeated until she has provisioned, laid, and walled-off about 30 eggs. The one female will fill two or three 6” holes with eggs.

It is useful to know that she will lay eggs into holes only to a maximum of about 6” deep. She will continue to lay eggs for only 5-6 weeks. Also, as the egg-laying process brings her to the last inch or two near the surface, she withholds sperm from the eggs she lays, thus the last eggs of one hole will develop into males, So males will begin to grow only in the area near the surface, while all the deeper laid eggs will produce females. For our purposes, it is important to understand that if we want a large majority of females to be born, shallow holes such as 3-4” deep, are almost useless—they will predominantly yield males which do not pollinate and are not needed in large quantities for population expansion. Thus, in our efforts to optimize the production of bees, it seems that 6” depth is ideal.

The newly laid eggs hatch into larvae in about three days and they devour their food for the next 25 days. Then they spin a cocoon inside of which they become adults before winter time. It is important that the nest not be moved or even vibrated much between March and the end of September (as the eggs and larvae will suffocate), at which time it can be moved to a garage or other unheated space until next spring.

Full article at:


How to Raise Orchard Mason Bees in BC


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Penn State U researchers says virus causing honeybee deaths

Breakthrough on mystery of vanishing honey bees

by Am Johal

article from: http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/12/31/news0019.htm

Over the past year, honey bees have been dying across North America in unprecedented numbers and, until this month, no one seemed to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what the cause may have been.

What has been dubbed "colony collapse disorder" can work through a honey bee colony in a matter of weeks. Bees fly off to collect pollen, but never return -- or simply weaken and die in the hives. Beyond the larger effects on the food chain, the economic implications of these deaths are immediate because honey bees are integral to the pollination of tens of millions of dollars of cash crops in North America.

Scientists from Penn State University say they have found a connection between Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and colony collapse disorder. In a conference call last week, researchers argued that the virus, in conjunction with other stress factors, is likely the cause of the disorder, which has resulted in a loss of 50-90 percent of North American bee colonies. It was originally discovered in Israel in 2004, the same year that Australian bees were imported in to the United States.

Colony collapse disorder has also been observed in Poland, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, and unverified reports have surfaced in Switzerland and Germany. Cases have also been reported in India and Brazil.

David Hackenburg, a beekeeper near Tampa Bay, Florida, lost nearly 2,000 of his 3,000 hives in a matter of weeks last winter. He has since been raising the issue with university researchers, bureaucrats at state agencies and elected politicians. He has told a number of media outlets that new synthetic nicotine-based pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, are the major contributing factor. Researchers told IPS that further studies will include these pesticides as possible contributing factors. Some large environmental groups, like the Sierra Club, also believe that genetically modified food production could be a contributing factor. A comprehensive British study found that genetically modified crops in conjunction with powerful chemicals were harmful to bees, butterflies and birds.

Researchers from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and other U.S. states have been conducting geographic database tests to understand the magnitude of the problem and whether linkages exist with colony collapse disorder.

But other scientists argue that there is scant evidence that the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin produced by genetically modified crops is a factor in the mass deaths of bees.

According to Science Daily, a team of scientists from Edgewood Chemical Biological Centre and the University of California at San Francisco have identified a virus and a parasite that are likely culprits in the recent deaths.

Penn State University's Colony Collapse Working Group had drawn no clear conclusions as to what the causative factors may be until this week. In July 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a "Colony Collapse Disorder Action Plan" which states, "The current strategy for addressing the CCD crisis involves four main components: 1) survey and data collection; 2) analysis of samples; 3) hypothesis-driven research; and, 4) mitigation and preventative action."

Dr. Mariano Higes, a scientist based in Guadalajara, Spain, has concluded that European honey bees suffering from colony collapse disorder fell victim to Nosema ceranae, a micro-sporidian fungus. The research team led by Higes has been investigating the issue since 2000 and ruled out any other causes. U.S. scientists have stated that although it may be a factor, it is not the only cause of the disorder.

Eric Mussen, a University of California Davis apiculture expert, believes that small variations in weather caused by climate change could affect the water, nectar and pollen the bees rely on. Mussen also argues that bees have many viruses, but it is their weakened immune systems that are making them susceptible to death. The first cases came to public view in late 2006. Since then, speculation has ranged about the causes from a diverse set of theories which range from new pesticides, genetically modified crops, agricultural products, climate change, viruses cell phones.

In the 1940s, there were an estimated 5 million managed bee colonies in North America. Now there are just over 2 million. Adverse weather conditions and hurricanes have also contributed to the heavy losses of bee colonies in recent years.

For example, the almond season begins in February for the bees, a cold season in North America which can affect their endurance. The economy of the almond season is particularly lucrative for those raising bee colonies. Migratory beekeeping is also widespread in the United States. Beekeepers earn more money renting bees out for pollination than they do from honey production. Bee keepers often truck their colonies to Florida, Texas, California and other states. Migratory beekeeping has been in practice in the United States since 1908. Climate change could also be a factor in weakening the bees and has affected the pollination of crops in many agricultural areas in North America. The value of crops for which honey bees are the prime pollinator is estimated to be in the 15-billion-dollar range in the United States. California's almond industry alone, which relies on pollination from honey bees, is worth 1.5 billion dollars.

Honey bees are not native to North America. Though indigenous plants can survive without them, the pollination from honey bees is instrumental for growing fruit and vegetables like apples, cherries, tomatoes, zucchinis, cantaloupes and many other crops. Dr. Leonard Foster, a University of British Columbia Assistant Professor of Biochemistry told IPS, "There is certainly something happening in the United States and it is difficult to say if it is due to a bacteria or fungus -- it is difficult to detect with the current methods."

"It could be various factors combined, but it is difficult to verify at this time -- climate change, antibiotics or the use of pesticides where bees may visit. We have various historical records that show that there are fluctuations with beehives every seven or eight years that are affected by weather conditions and crop yields. It is too early to draw conclusions yet."

Troy Fore, president of the American Beekeeping Federation, told IPS, "Lately, we haven't heard much since it is the summer season. The losses seem to be associated with the winter as it's the natural end of a colony's life cycle."

"I hear from beekeepers, but many have been damaged earlier in the year. The colonies that have been affected are not as productive," he added. "But we still have no smoking gun."

(This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS and IFEJ - International Federation of Environmental Journalists.)

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