Burns Best Farm

Bees

This post is probably better suited to Harriette's beekeeping blog, but bees are on my mind this week. We got a lunchtime visit yesterday from the two retired gentlemen who own the hives on our farm, and the news was not good.  Of the 13 hives located here, only six are alive and working.  Seven hives either contain a dead colony or the bees are just absent. Gone.  Nowhere to be found.

What started out last fall as a cause for concern about "rental hives" that move up and down the east coast following crop pollenation needs has turned into a full-blown crisis, with a name to match:  Bee Colony Collapse Disorder.

The experts don't know what's going on:  is it a new class of pesticide that confuses the bees, preventing them from finding their way home?  Or is it a virus that attacks the hive and deforms the larvae, causing death to the colony?  Combination of these two factors?  Or one of several other options? 

No one knows and the mystery is widening.  But what we do know that is some crops, like apple, almonds and blueberries, are almost totally dependent on honeybee pollenation for fruit to set.  And the cost of new queen bees to repopulate a hive has tripled in the last year.  For bee hobbyists, that quickly translates into costs high enough to make one think twice before repopulating a hive.  Especially when there are no guarantees that the colony collapse won't hit again.

Gloom and doom, I know, but I've started to think  that researching this honeybee problem might be worth taking some money out of the national defense budget for.......just my opinion.  That, and $1.75 will get you a cup of gourmet coffee.......

DeniseB

Untitled Comment

08:13, 2007-Mar-29 .. Posted by southofthegnatline

Hey there! Sorry to hear about the honey bee fall out. Despite my lack of expertise in this area, I wrote and posted my personal thoughts (at Beekeeper Dreams) about the honey bee plague. Since honey bee are critical to fruit setting - I can only wonder about the pesticides that are used in apple orchards causing some kind of break down in their immune systems.

Keep us posted on what your hive owners find out and what they plan to do.

Harriette