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Having started bee keeping myself, I think there is a lot at play here... 1. Mites - resistant to poisons that kill mites, but not bees are spreading. This can

Having started bee keeping myself, I think there is a lot at play here... 1. Mites - resistant to poisons that kill mites, but not bees are spreading. This can kill hives. 2. Temperatures - are changing, where I am at 33% colony loss is relatively common due to winters (and the bees not having enough honey to survive or it gets too cold). This has been the case forever though, at least in my region 3. Africanization - of honeybees has reduced their ability to withstand the cold. 4. Travel - Many of the commercial hives in the US travel vast distances to pollenate fields. The California almonds are a huge example. This very much stresses the hive. 5. Poisons - we know if you’re near a field doing crop dusting it can kill the hive. Combine with point #4 and this creates issues today. One thing to mention, is that setting up a new hive is relatively easy. You take a new (or about to be) queen, some workers and separate them. They’ll form a new hive. This can be done once a year (or more) on a healthy hive in the spring. Meaning... we can double the bee population yearly. They recover very well, if we know what to do to minimize hives death.

ShlomoS 7y ago
1. Yet the industry still refuses to stop forcing honeybees to have abnormally long and large growth, which is the main factor in death by varroa. 2. Not really. None of the temperatures we're recording anywhere around the country are special. We've had extreme variations in seasonal temperatures forever. 3. Commercial bees aren't africanized. 4. And just like with #1, the industry refuses to make any changes to accomodate the fact that bees are bees. They want to continue to treat them as machinery and then complain that they keep "mysteriously" dying. 5. I have to be fair to the beekeeping industry here in that they really have no say in this. Industrial agriculture is a disaster.
ptah 7y ago
5. seems like the only thing that is easy to change
- lettergram 7y ago
  We can control moving the bees around too. This would improve everything across the board. Transportation are where mites are easiest to transmit. Travel is also easier to come into contact with poisons. The honey stock is also reduced, which make the bees less likely to survive winter.
  - ptah 7y ago
    it doesn't sound like it is easy to achieve, pesticide usage can be easily cut though with simple regulation
    - lrem 7y ago
      This simple regulation has been implemented in Europe. Have you seen the comments on that? ;)
  - nanomonkey 7y ago
    Sadly with monoculture crops you can't just leave a hive in one place as there is only one type of flower available. During the off seasons these regions become food deserts for the bees. So for diverse locations a bee hive can stay put, but set a hive down in an area dominated by corn or almond orchards only and you're going to stress the hive.
Chris2048 7y ago
> Africanization - of honeybees has reduced their ability to withstand the cold Could this not reverse the Africanization?
- Aromasin 7y ago
  Eventually, however if the rate at which the bees die is greater than the rate at which adaptations evolve within the species, they'll go extinct regardless.
mohaine 7y ago
Also remember that the honeybee is not native to North America and is technically an invasive species here. This along with domestication means lower genetic diversity making the honey bee population more susceptible to any single issue than our native wild bees.
- exfed 7y ago
  This is actually a huge problem for the US honey industry right now. As bee kills become more of an issue, re-queening becomes more necessary, which puts even more pressure on breeding programs, which likely only exacerbates the genetic diversity problem. > Also remember that the honeybee is not native to North America and is technically an invasive species here. Yes, but they are also the only species (so far) that is commercially managed, and therefore easily counted and tracked. If Apis Mellifera is suffering, we can pretty safely assume that other, native species are also suffering.
raxxorrax 7y ago
I heard from some keepers that they reduced the amount of honey they take and replace with sugared water, since that isn't an adequate replacement and they say it improved the amount of loss in winter quite significantly. Maybe taking all their honey plays a part? Would be a shame since it is very tasty...
- NoNotTheDuo 7y ago
  I was just at a beekeeping association meeting on Monday night and listened to a very experienced beekeeper talk about his wintering practice. He boils 1 quart of water, adds 10 pounds of sugar, and then lets it cool off a bit. From there he pours the syrup onto paper plates to form giant "sugar cookies" that get placed in the hive. Each hive is different, but the extra food helps ensure the bees survive if they run out of their stored honey. Seems like it's a best of both worlds type of arrangement for him. He gets honey and the bees survive.
  - easyat 7y ago
    From what I understand about the idea of leaving more honey for the bees vs. providing only sugar as a food source and taking all the honey is the lack of nutrition as well as other effects eating pure cane sugar has on the hive. Eating only sugar is believed to weaken the hive and make it more susceptible to other pressures on the hive
jly 7y ago
Good list, but.. > Africanization - of honeybees has reduced their ability to withstand the cold. has probably been saving a lot of North American bees (certainly in the wild). Am. scutellata behavioral differences are vastly more beneficial than a typical European honeybee when it comes to survival everywhere in the Americas except the north. These bees forage sooner, store more pollen, build smaller colonies, swarm more frequently, and more strongly defend themselves against Varroa. In other words, they are survivors against still the number one threat to managed honeybees.
- hinkley 7y ago
  Yeah I watched a documentary on africanization and they saved that bit about varoa resistance toward the end. Nature is making a pretty big pot of lemonade there. Weren't the scientists that accidentally released african bees in south america trying to study hybridization benefits? Ironically they are getting their wish.
  - jly 7y ago
    Completely agree. I think one main goal of introducing an African/European hybrid was to improve the productivity in tropical and sub-tropical climates (Central/South America) and arid climates (parts of northern Mexico and southern US) where the introduced European bees were less well-adapted. It's now well-documented that African bees are considerably more defensive, making beekeeping challenging, although not impossible. While this is less desirable for humans, it turns out to be a very valuable set of behaviors for bees in the right environment.
Vivtek 7y ago
A beekeeping friend of mine here in Puerto Rico recently shared an article noting that Puerto Rican feral honeybees, which are basically killer bees that have relaxed somewhat and lost their aggression, are more resistant to hive death than bees on the mainland. Although if I understand correctly, feral bees are already more resilient, probably due to the lack of travel.
majos 7y ago
Silly question but, looking at > the bees not having enough honey to survive can you give bees honey they didn't make?
- darkpuma 7y ago
  Yes. They'd also take corn syrup or whatever other sweet liquid you give them, which may or may not be as good for them as honey. But when you're trying to make the most out of some tight profit margins, perhaps that isn't done.
pgrote 7y ago
"One thing to mention, is that setting up a new hive is relatively easy. You take a new (or about to be) queen, some workers and separate them. They’ll form a new hive. This can be done once a year (or more) on a healthy hive in the spring. Meaning... we can double the bee population yearly. They recover very well, if we know what to do to minimize hives death." This seems like an easy way out of the problem. Is this being actively pursued?
- bregma 7y ago
  Yes. Honeybees were domesticated thousands of years ago and have been with us ever since. They're not threadtened any more than, say, dairy cows or winter wheat.

ShlomoS 7y ago

1. Yet the industry still refuses to stop forcing honeybees to have abnormally long and large growth, which is the main factor in death by varroa. 2. Not really. None of the temperatures we're recording anywhere around the country are special. We've had extreme variations in seasonal temperatures forever. 3. Commercial bees aren't africanized. 4. And just like with #1, the industry refuses to make any changes to accomodate the fact that bees are bees. They want to continue to treat them as machinery and then complain that they keep "mysteriously" dying. 5. I have to be fair to the beekeeping industry here in that they really have no say in this. Industrial agriculture is a disaster.

ptah 7y ago

5. seems like the only thing that is easy to change

lettergram 7y ago
We can control moving the bees around too. This would improve everything across the board. Transportation are where mites are easiest to transmit. Travel is also easier to come into contact with poisons. The honey stock is also reduced, which make the bees less likely to survive winter.
- ptah 7y ago
  it doesn't sound like it is easy to achieve, pesticide usage can be easily cut though with simple regulation
  - lrem 7y ago
    This simple regulation has been implemented in Europe. Have you seen the comments on that? ;)
- nanomonkey 7y ago
  Sadly with monoculture crops you can't just leave a hive in one place as there is only one type of flower available. During the off seasons these regions become food deserts for the bees. So for diverse locations a bee hive can stay put, but set a hive down in an area dominated by corn or almond orchards only and you're going to stress the hive.

Chris2048 7y ago

> Africanization - of honeybees has reduced their ability to withstand the cold Could this not reverse the Africanization?

Aromasin 7y ago
Eventually, however if the rate at which the bees die is greater than the rate at which adaptations evolve within the species, they'll go extinct regardless.

mohaine 7y ago

Also remember that the honeybee is not native to North America and is technically an invasive species here. This along with domestication means lower genetic diversity making the honey bee population more susceptible to any single issue than our native wild bees.

exfed 7y ago
This is actually a huge problem for the US honey industry right now. As bee kills become more of an issue, re-queening becomes more necessary, which puts even more pressure on breeding programs, which likely only exacerbates the genetic diversity problem. > Also remember that the honeybee is not native to North America and is technically an invasive species here. Yes, but they are also the only species (so far) that is commercially managed, and therefore easily counted and tracked. If Apis Mellifera is suffering, we can pretty safely assume that other, native species are also suffering.

raxxorrax 7y ago

I heard from some keepers that they reduced the amount of honey they take and replace with sugared water, since that isn't an adequate replacement and they say it improved the amount of loss in winter quite significantly. Maybe taking all their honey plays a part? Would be a shame since it is very tasty...

NoNotTheDuo 7y ago
I was just at a beekeeping association meeting on Monday night and listened to a very experienced beekeeper talk about his wintering practice. He boils 1 quart of water, adds 10 pounds of sugar, and then lets it cool off a bit. From there he pours the syrup onto paper plates to form giant "sugar cookies" that get placed in the hive. Each hive is different, but the extra food helps ensure the bees survive if they run out of their stored honey. Seems like it's a best of both worlds type of arrangement for him. He gets honey and the bees survive.
- easyat 7y ago
  From what I understand about the idea of leaving more honey for the bees vs. providing only sugar as a food source and taking all the honey is the lack of nutrition as well as other effects eating pure cane sugar has on the hive. Eating only sugar is believed to weaken the hive and make it more susceptible to other pressures on the hive

jly 7y ago

Good list, but.. > Africanization - of honeybees has reduced their ability to withstand the cold. has probably been saving a lot of North American bees (certainly in the wild). Am. scutellata behavioral differences are vastly more beneficial than a typical European honeybee when it comes to survival everywhere in the Americas except the north. These bees forage sooner, store more pollen, build smaller colonies, swarm more frequently, and more strongly defend themselves against Varroa. In other words, they are survivors against still the number one threat to managed honeybees.

hinkley 7y ago
Yeah I watched a documentary on africanization and they saved that bit about varoa resistance toward the end. Nature is making a pretty big pot of lemonade there. Weren't the scientists that accidentally released african bees in south america trying to study hybridization benefits? Ironically they are getting their wish.
- jly 7y ago
  Completely agree. I think one main goal of introducing an African/European hybrid was to improve the productivity in tropical and sub-tropical climates (Central/South America) and arid climates (parts of northern Mexico and southern US) where the introduced European bees were less well-adapted. It's now well-documented that African bees are considerably more defensive, making beekeeping challenging, although not impossible. While this is less desirable for humans, it turns out to be a very valuable set of behaviors for bees in the right environment.

Vivtek 7y ago

A beekeeping friend of mine here in Puerto Rico recently shared an article noting that Puerto Rican feral honeybees, which are basically killer bees that have relaxed somewhat and lost their aggression, are more resistant to hive death than bees on the mainland. Although if I understand correctly, feral bees are already more resilient, probably due to the lack of travel.

majos 7y ago

Silly question but, looking at > the bees not having enough honey to survive can you give bees honey they didn't make?

darkpuma 7y ago
Yes. They'd also take corn syrup or whatever other sweet liquid you give them, which may or may not be as good for them as honey. But when you're trying to make the most out of some tight profit margins, perhaps that isn't done.

pgrote 7y ago

"One thing to mention, is that setting up a new hive is relatively easy. You take a new (or about to be) queen, some workers and separate them. They’ll form a new hive. This can be done once a year (or more) on a healthy hive in the spring. Meaning... we can double the bee population yearly. They recover very well, if we know what to do to minimize hives death." This seems like an easy way out of the problem. Is this being actively pursued?

bregma 7y ago
Yes. Honeybees were domesticated thousands of years ago and have been with us ever since. They're not threadtened any more than, say, dairy cows or winter wheat.