A nationwide survey of beekeepers found a smaller loss of honeybee colonies this year than last, said USDA in its annual Honey Bee Colonies report. The USDA report, which gauged the bee inventory are recently as mid-year, was in line with university researchers who reported in May that losses are moderating after steep drops in the population of the important pollinating insects.
About one mouthful of food of every three in the U.S. diet is pollinated directly or indirectly by an insect such as the honeybee. The pollination services provided by commercial bee hives are valued at more than $15 billion a year. Honeybees, the most common and heavily managed pollinator, are used on many fruit, vegetable and nut crops, including almonds, oranges and apples. “Without honeybees, you would expect to see less variety and color in the produce section of your grocery store,” says the Honey Bee Lab at the University of Maryland.
Beekeepers reported a 14 percent loss of colonies during January-March, the worst of the winter, the season when losses are highest, said USDA. By comparison, 16 percent of colonies were lost in the same period of 2016. During April, May and June of this year, 8 percent of colonies were lost, compared to 12 percent during the second quarter of 2016, said USDA. Beekeepers offset losses by adding new colonies or renovating old ones with a new queen or new bees.
There were 2.616 million honeybee colonies in the nation on Jan 1, down by 4,350 colonies from the 2.620 million colonies at the start of 2016, said USDA.
Pests, pathogens, poor nutrition and pesticides are considered the leading reasons for colony losses. The Varroa mite, a lethal parasite, is perhaps the most important agent of harm, according to researchers. More than 40 percent of honeybee colonies were infested with the mite during the first half of this year, making it the top “stressor,” said USDA. “Other pests and parasites” and pesticides were listed as stressors in one-third as many colonies as the mite.
The Bee Informed Partnership of university researchers reported in May that its survey found beekeepers lost one-third of their colonies in the year ending in March, down 6 percent from the previous year and the lowest loss rate in five years. “It’s hard to imagine any other agricultural sector being able to stay in business with such consistently high losses,” said assistant entomology professor Dennis vanEngelsdorp of the University of Maryland when the results were released.
The University of Maryland honeybee lab, run by vanEngelsdorp, says Colony Collapse Disorder, a term originated in 2006 in response to alarming colony losses, “is not a major driver of losses any more … the industry is currently more concerned with trying to prevent colony mortality from persistent problems such as Varroa, diseases, pesticides or lack of forage.”
Bee Informed Partnership and USDA gauge the honeybee inventory differently. USDA sends a questionnaire to a “stratified sample” of its list of known beekeepers; apiarists with more than five colonies are surveyed quarterly and small beekeepers are surveyed once a year. Bee Informed collects data on winter and annual losses. Its 2017 results were drawn from responses by 4,963 beekeepers who managed nearly 364,000 colonies, or 13 percent of the U.S. total.