Loss of Honeybees is Less But Still a Threat
Robin Loznak, AP By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Loss of honeybees is less but still a threat
(topic overview)- Britain's native black honeybee could be "key to reversing the decline in the UK's honeybee population" - more than 100 years since Victorian apiarists rejected it for being too lazy and aggressive. (More...)
- Breeders now want to reintroduce the indigenous bee to hives, in the hope that the hairy, hardy insect will be less vulnerable to disease, mites and bad weather. (More...)
- The giveaway includes a 10-point plan to raise awareness and halt the decline. (More...)
- Why have domestic bee colonies been damaged ? My hunch is that we should look at the commercial beekeepers practice of squeezing out maximum production by robbing honey and substituting with sugar water. (More...)
Britain's native black honeybee could be "key to reversing the decline in the UK's honeybee population" - more than 100 years since Victorian apiarists rejected it for being too lazy and aggressive. That's according to a Co-operative supermarket-backed study by the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association (Bibba), which says the larger body and thicker hair of Apis mellifera mellifera could help it survive the kind of inclement weather which - along with varroa mite, insecticides, Colony Collapse Disorder, mobile phone radiation, fungus (take your pick, according to taste) - has provoked a dramatic decline in honeybee populations over recent years. [1] The Co-operative Group, which earlier this year launched Plan Bee, a 10- point programme to help save the honeybee, has today (18 May) announced it is funding the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders''' Association (BIBBA) in the UK to seek out and map locations of native black honeybees and their hybrids. The native black honeybee, with its better ability to cope with the British weather, could help reverse the dramatic decline in honeybee numbers in the UK. The population of the honeybee, nature'''s most important pollinator, has declined by up to 30 per cent in recent years, but no one knows why.[2]
Paul Monaghan, Head of Social Goals at The Co-operative said: "The hardy native black honeybee has had a bad press over the years but it may hold the key to reversing the decline in the UK'''s honeybee population. "There are isolated populations of the native black bee dotted around the country and we want to help BIBBA to confirm these and map these populations. Beekeepers who think they have native or near native black honeybees will be asked to send samples to BIBBA who will carry out tests to determine their origins. Members of the public who think they may have seen a native black bee are asked to take a photograph and e-mail it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.[2]
Head of the Co-op'''s social group committee, Paul Monaghan, stated that the Co-op believes the resilient black honeybee may be able to stop the decline in the UK honeybee population even if it has received a bed reputation in the past. Sussex University professor of apiculture, Frank Ratnieks, commented that the Co-op and Bibba's plan makes logical sense given the black honeybee is naturally native to the UK, but that it would be helpful, once the populations are located, to breed them with less aggressive bees to make harvesting honey more practical and efficient.[3]
The research coincides with a £100,000 study at Sussex University which aims to breed black bees more resistant to disease. Beekeepers who think they have native or near-native black honeybees are asked to send samples to Bibba to test their origins. Norman Carreck, of Sussex's Department of Biological and Ecological Science, said the location of the bee's remaining wild populations was unknown, but they were believed to be in the western British Isles, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Of the Bibba research, he said: "It's a very useful exercise because we don't really know much about their distribution."[4] Sussex University's Department of Biological and Ecological Science, meanwhile, is conducting a ''100,000 parallel research programme aimed at breeding black honeybees more resistant to disease, the Independent reports. The department's Norman Carreck said remaining populations were believed to exist in western British Isles, Cornwall, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and he welcomed Bibba's plan to pinpoint these.[1]
The Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association (Bibba) believes the black honeybee, which has a thicker coat, could be hardy enough to survive the 21st century. Its researchers hope to map wild populations across the British Isles with a view to reintroducing it to commercial hives, which produce 5,000 tonnes of honey a year. People are asked to take pictures of it whenever they see it.[4] New research has found the native black honeybee could be better able to survive any external threats as it is better equipped to deal with the British weather. A study by the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association (BIBBA), backed by The Co-Operative supermarket, found the black honeybees' thick hair and larger body helped them to keep warm and cope with the shorter breeding season in Britain.[5]
Beekeepers have long favoured Italian honeybees since they are perceived to be more industrious, but with its population falling by about 30% in recent years, the black honeybee may be the better choice. British beekeepers hope that by reintroducing the native black honeybees to hives, they may be hardier and thus useful in raising the number of bees in the country.[3] Experts blamed Colony Collapse Disorder, the malady characterized by the complete absence of bees in dead colonies that has been decimating the U.S. beekeeping industry in recent years, for some of the losses. The cause of the disorder is still unknown, but about 26 percent of apiaries surveyed reported that some of their colonies died of the collapse disorder - down from 36 percent of apiaries in 2007-08. Other causes include premature queen death, starvation, cold, pests such as the varroa mite and pesticides, Hayes said. Dave Hackenberg, a beekeeper who winters his bees in Florida, criticized the survey for not asking the right question. He said his hive numbers dropped from 3,500 in October 2008 to 2,800 this January, within the time period of the survey. By February, he had lost 300 more hives. "It's spring, but the hives aren't growing. I'm finding them blown out, dead or gone," Hackenberg said from Maine Tuesday. Hayes added: "There have been beekeepers out there who have taken another phenomenal loss this year.[6] U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers found that honeybee colonies declined by 29 percent between September 2008 and early April. That's an improvement over the last two years, when researchers found that 32 percent and 36 percent of all beekeepers surveyed lost hives. Domestic honeybee stocks have been waning since 2004 because of a puzzling illness scientists called colony collapse disorder, which causes adult bees to inexplicably forsake their broods.[7]
WASHINGTON--Honey bee colony losses nationwide were approximately 29 percent from all causes from September 2008 to April 2009, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is less than the overall losses of about 36 percent from 2007 to 2008, and about 32 percent from 2006 to 2007, that have been reported in similar surveys. "While the drop in losses is encouraging, losses of this magnitude are economically unsustainable for commercial beekeeping," said Jeff Pettis, research leader of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency.[8]
The survey, which encompassed 20 percent of the nation's roughly 2.3 million honeybee colonies, found a 29 percent loss of managed bee colonies. This compares with losses of 36 percent and 32 percent in the winters of 2007-08 and 2006-07, respectively.[6]
"We would also like to help to develop a breeding programme that would increase the number of native colonies and hopefully help reduce the losses experienced in recent years." The Co-op has injected ''10,000 into black honeybee research as part of its 10-point Plan Bee, claiming that "with careful selection, they are good-tempered and good honey-producers".[1] You need JavaScript enabled to view it stating when and where the picture was taken. Dinah Sweet, Chairman of BIBBA said: "This is a much needed and long overdue research study which could possibly help unlock the answer to the potentially catastrophic decline in the UK honeybee population. We have to identify where they can be found so that we can use them in the BIBBA programme to expand the number of native black honeybee colonies and make them more available to beekeepers."[2]
Cue the suggestion that our own honeybee should be brought in from the cold. "There are isolated populations of the native black bee dotted around the country and we want to help Bibba to confirm these and map these populations.[1]
As the UK honeybee population declines, bees have become a valuable asset, and beekeepers are now being targeted by professional thieves who sell hives on the black market.[9] Bee populations slumped by 30 per cent in a single winter, 2007-08, the British Beekeepers Association (Bbka) says. The decline is unexplained but the potential causes are pesticides, disease, mites and milder winters that encourage them to forage too soon.[4]
Honeybees help pollinate many fruits and vegetables, including blueberries, tomatoes, apples and almonds. The disorder has killed off the weakest colonies in recent years, and now pesticide drift and old foes such as the parasitic varroa mite are more likely threatening those that survived, said Jerry Hayes, a former president of the Apiary Inspectors of America, whose members helped carry out the survey. "Whether it's CCD or pesticides, fungicides or chemicals affecting how the queens respond, I don't know that beekeepers care," said Hayes, chief of the apiary sector of the Florida Department of Agriculture.[7] Over the past year, almost 29% of honeybee hives in the USA have died off, less of a loss than was reported in 2007 and 2008. It's still an unsustainable situation for the insects responsible for pollinating many important food crops, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the Department of Agriculture's Honey Bee Lab. "This is the third winter in a row where we've lost almost a third of the colonies," says Dennis van-Engelsdorp, Apiary Inspectors president.[10] Topics of discussion will include the N.C. Department of Agriculture apiary inspection update, pesticide residue in honeybee hives and naturally grown queens, bees, honey and wax.[11]
What's unknown is the phenomena called colony collapse disorder, in which healthy worker bees fly away, leaving the hive, honey, queen and immature workers to die. "It's altruistic suicide," vanEngelsdorp says. "The workers somehow know they're sick, and in an attempt to stop their sisters from getting infected, they fly away." No one knows what's making them sick. "It might be nutrition, new and changed pathogens, and also possibly pesticide exposure," he says. It doesn't appear to be tied to genetically engineered crops: Studies have shown such pollen fed to bees doesn't reduce their longevity, he says. Honeybees are crucial for pollination-dependent crops, such as almonds, apples, blueberries, cranberries, pumpkins, watermelons and cucumbers, vanEngelsdorp says.[10]
The meeting comes at a time when popularity of beekeeping continues to grow, with bee supply companies like Brushy Mountain Bee Farm and Miller Bee Supply reporting strong sales despite the recession. It also comes as research continues to determine the cause of the collapse of large numbers of honeybee hives across the country, but particularly in large commercial operations.[11]
Bee experts say the number of thefts is unprecedented. David Sutton, the National Bee Unit inspector for western England, said: '''You used to get the odd one or two, but not like this. '''People are realising the value of bees now because they are very scarce." Sal Mancina, chairman of the Cleveland Beekeepers Association, added: '''Some unscrupulous people are taking hives from others, and it has to be someone who knows what they are doing, who is wearing a bee suit and who knows exactly the right time to do it as well. As more bees are stolen, their value is increasing, making the rustler's black market trading even more lucrative.[9] The Co-operative Group agrees and has donated ''10,000 to the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeder'''s Association (Bibba) in order to aid with finding and mapping the black honeybees throughout the UK countryside.[3] The scheme to reintroduce black bees was unveiled yesterday by the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association (Bibba) and the Co-op Group.[12]
If we select a new population of non 'lazy' less aggressive black bees perhaps we are just recreating the same conditions that have resulted in the current situation. It may be the case that a hundred or so years of commercial bee husbandry has slowly reduced genetic diversity to the point where collapse was inevitable and the solution is to considerably reduce reliance on domesticated bee pollination and boost the ability of our agricultural land to sustain functioning populations of wild living pollinators.[4] Britain could be saved from the devastating effects of a collapse in its bee population by turning to a native British species, which is more aggressive and hairier than the southern European honeybees favoured by apiarists.[5]
The black honeybee has thick dark hair and a large stocky body, giving it a higher metabolic rate so it keeps warm in the cold. It has an aggressive reputation, but beekeepers say it can be docile if cared for properly. Its thick black stripes and thin yellow bands contrast with the brown and yellow bands of the Italian bee, which has less hair.[12] Native black honeybees are considered by some beekeepers to be more aggressive and poorer at producing honey than foreign strains.[2] "Native black honeybees are considered by some beekeepers to be more aggressive and poorer at producing honey than foreign strains," the Co-op said.[4]
Over tens of thousands of years, the native black honeybee has evolved thick black hair and a larger body to help keep it warm in a cooler climate, and a shorter breeding season to reflect the UK summer. With careful selection they are good tempered and good honey producers.[2]
In the case of the British black honeybee, there could be a sting in the tale. While keepers have favoured the Italian honeybee since the mid-19th century - it is seen as more hardworking and placid - in the past few years its population has fallen by 30 per cent.[12]
Pesticides have been implicated by some experts, but others believe the problem is made worse by beekeepers use of a foreign, poorly suited, subspecies of honeybee from Southern and Eastern Europe. They believe that a hardy British variety (Apis mellifera mellifera), which is likely only to be found in remote parts of the country, could hold the key to survival of the entire population.[2]
The survey released Tuesday included 787 beekeepers who account for 20 percent of the country's approximately 2.3 million commercially managed bee hives. The data — collected through a spring telephone survey in which researchers polled keepers about how many of their hives survived the fall and winter, when queens go dormant — is being prepared for submission to a journal.[7] The cause of CCD is still unknown. As this was an interview-based survey, it is not possible to differentiate between verifiable cases of CCD and colonies lost as the result of other causes that share the "absence of dead bees" as a symptom. Among beekeepers that reported any colonies collapsing without the presence of dead bees, each lost an average of 32 percent of their colonies in 2008-2009, while apiaries that did not lose any bees with symptoms of CCD each lost an average of 26 percent of their colonies.[8]
The survey was conducted by Pettis; Dennis vanEngelsdorp, president of AIA; and Jerry Hayes, AIA past president. About 26 percent of apiaries surveyed reported that some of their colonies died of colony collapse disorder (CCD), down from 36 percent of apiaries in 2007-2008.[8] Domestic bee stocks have been waning since 2004, when scientists first got reports of a puzzling illness now labeled colony collapse disorder.[13]
Breeders now want to reintroduce the indigenous bee to hives, in the hope that the hairy, hardy insect will be less vulnerable to disease, mites and bad weather. Yesterday researchers unveiled plans to map wild populations of the bee across the UK so they can be caught and bred. [12] Police believe the bees are being stolen to order for keepers whose populations have been destroyed by two successive cold winters and the invasion of the UK by bee-killing varroa mites.[9] One in three hives were lost over the last winter alone for reasons that are not clearly understood although bad weather, the use of insecticides, a lack of wildflowers and the varroa mite, which has spread rapidly since arriving in Britain in 1992, are thought to be partly to blame.[5] Threats to honeybees to be discussed include small hive beetles, American foulbrood and varroa mites, including non-chemical control of varroa mites.[11]
Aside from that, '10,000 is not enough for a proper breeding program. It would be far more useful putting it towards the existing program breeding bees that can tolerate varroa mites. There is a blindingly obvious answer as to why some of our bees have gone, over time they have come to dislike the practice of having smoke puffed over them, they are not daft, so its up sticks and away.[12]
The real hope is to breed a varroa resistant bee which lots of beekeepers are trying to do, and there are already some good prospective breeds. - Bertie Fox, Breil, France, 19/5/2009 12:20 Just as well this article is about bees otherwise the police would be knocking on the journalists door. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.[12] The british bee mostly died out because it wasn't hardy. As it is, I haven't seen any proof that it still exists in it pure form in the UK. Bertie Fox, it's not scientist that have a short memory, it's a very small group of beekeepers in the UK who mistakenly think that we can backbreed the native bee.[12] The common land of every village and our parks planted with new native trees that were producing food, honey and true natural beauty. It would be wonderful for our bees, our landscape and our future. We could even then have annual tree planting holiday periods? Skills such as careful pruning and training the trees would be taught.[4] Philippa O'Brien, who designed the BBKA garden at the show, has planted 10 different types of trees which produce pollen and nectar throughout the bees' active months. "One of the best ways to help the honey bee is to plant a succession of flowering trees," she said.[5] "Five or six large trees can provide as much forage for bees as an acre of wild flower meadow. They also provide a single source of nectar that bees find easy to harvest. "Gardeners are tuned into the seasons: they know when there is likely to be a shortage of flowering plants locally and this is the time to plant pollen rich annuals or hardy perennials."[5]
The plants will thrive even in pots and windowboxes, so you don't need a garden to take part. All you have to do is pick up a News of the World newspaper to get your Free Plan Bee seeds voucher, then get yourself to your local Co-operative Food store between now and Tuesday night, swap your voucher for a special packet of seeds and plant them.[14] The black bee was used for centuries as the honey-producing bee but was replaced by more productive bees from Italy and eastern Europein the 19th century. The Co-op Group, whose food stores sell apples, field beans and other crops pollinated by bees, is putting £10,000 into the project as part of its 10-point Plan Bee.[4]
Mr Carreck, a member of the BBKA's technical committee, blamed the aggressive reputation of the black bee on cross-breeding. When bred with the Italian honeybee, the docile black bee could be aggressive, and kept its dominant markings.[4] If you see a black bee, email a picture of it, along with details of when and where it was taken, to campaigns@co-operative.coop.[12]
Err, didn't the old black British bee get supplanted way back because it was TOO susceptible to disease, namely Isle of Wight Disease (acarine) and nosema. It was the far more robust Italian types who were resistant.[12]
The British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) is also urging gardeners at the Royal Chelsea Flower Show, which begins on Tuesday, to plant bee-friendly flowers. It is recommending flowering trees and shrubs to plant throughout the year to provide a constant supply of food.[5] "If you are a small businessperson in any activity, how long can you sustain 29 percent losses or greater each year?" said Jerry Hayes, assistant chief of the Florida Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspection in Gainesville.[6] While total losses decreased slightly, the average operational loss increased to 34 percent in 2008-09 from 31 percent a year ago.[6]
The survey checked on about 20 percent of the country's 2.3 million colonies. A complete analysis of the survey data will be published later this year.[8] Hayes prepared the survey's preliminary results along with entomologists Dennis vanEngelsdorp, of Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture and president of the AIA, and the USDA's Jeff Pettis. A more detailed report will be published this year.[6]
Last year, we were told that bumble bees were endangered, but I have never seen so many, a patch of coriander in flower and some raspberry canes were covered in bees. This year, it is true that numbers are well down, but that must be partly due to constant strong winds over the past two weeks. I have one (non-"working") hive, and although it got off to a late start this year, seems to be thriving now. For those concerned about pollination, in my orchard, there has been very good pollination this year.[4] There are estimated to be 250,000 hives in the UK. With up to 30,000 bees per hive, the total number of commercial bees is about seven billion.[4]
There will be workshops on beeswax candles and other wax works, bee venom therapy, cooking with honey, using your own wax for foundation, reducing honey bee stress, removing bees from structures, foolproof requeening, observation hives, natural queen rearing, beekeeper volunteering at the N.C. Zoo and making wine at home.[11] Honey bee pollination is critical to agriculture, adding more than $15 billion to the value of American crops each year.[8] In the last two years billions of bees have died from erratic weather, pesticides, parasites, and a lack of food, threatening the world'''s delicate ecosystem balance and honey production.[3] Erratic weather, particularly the wet summers of the past two years, has hit bees badly.[12]
Some 35 per cent of our diet depends on pollination of crops by bees and it is often said that if bees died out, humans would follow just four years later, a view sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein.[5] New figures show the UK population has dropped a whopping 15 PER CENT in the last two years, mainly through pesticides.[14]
A sharp drop in Britain's bee population has seen second-hand hives that used to sell for just ''30 now fetch over ''200 ''' a statistic that has not gone unnoticed by thieves.[9] A bee descends on a blooming cactus flower Tuesday morning, May 19, 2009, at Cielo Grande Recreation Area in Roswell, N.M. Federal officials say the decline of honeybee colonies may have slowed slightly but warn that mysterious ailments are still affecting the insects.[7] FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — The decline of honeybee colonies has slowed slightly since last fall, but a mysterious combination of ailments is still decimating the insect's population, federal researchers say.[7]
The giveaway includes a 10-point plan to raise awareness and halt the decline. Bee thoughtful and plant these seeds. Saving wildlife will give you a buzz. [14] Wildlife telly star David Bellamy is backing the Plan Bee giveaway, and explained why it is so vital for as many readers as possible to take part. He said: "In Britain the honey-bee is responsible for helping to produce a third of our diet. It's calculated it would take 30 MILLION people to do the same job. We can all do our bit to help bees in our own backyards-thanks to this."[14]
"We would also like to help to develop a breeding programme that would increase the number of native colonies and hopefully help reduce the losses experienced in recent years."[5] Honeybee losses nationwide continue at a level that is economically unsustainable for commercial beekeeping, according to a 2008-09 survey released Tuesday.[6]
Ratnieks also noted that even black honeybees have been affected by climate change and resulting starvation so conservation efforts must also be made for honeybees in general otherwise the black honeybee will face the same eventual demise as the non-native Italian honeybees.[3]
Why have domestic bee colonies been damaged ? My hunch is that we should look at the commercial beekeepers practice of squeezing out maximum production by robbing honey and substituting with sugar water. [4] To strengthen the beekeeping industry, ARS recently began a five-year areawide research program to improve honey bee health, survivorship and pollination.[8] CCD is characterized by the sudden, complete absence of honey bees in a colony.[8] Honey bees and bumbles are less in evidence than usual, but there are plenty of small wild bees, and I've never seen so many, or so many species, of hover flies.[4]
The honey industry has lost so many bees recently - last winter around two billion vanished - that suppliers are warning of a famine.[12] Scientists believe the insect that made honey for the tables of medieval kings could reverse the collapse of bee numbers that has imperilled the annual pollination of crops worth £165m.[4]
1. Blighty's black honeybee comes in from the cold ''' The Register
2. The Co-operative support British honey bee
3. In the bee world, black is the new Italian
4. New life for the ancient black honeybee - Nature, Environment - The Independent
5. Bee population collapse 'could be saved by British species' - Telegraph
6. Bee colonies drop another 29 percent: 'Something is going wrong,' Florida beekeeper says
7. The Associated Press: Survey finds slower decline of honeybee colonies
9. Honeybee thieves target UK hives
10. Loss of honeybees is less but still a threat - USATODAY.com
11. Wilkes Journal Patriot - Welcome
12. British hives for British workers: Hardy native black honeybee poised for comeback | Mail Online
13. Bee decline waning, but keepers' battle continues
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