Bee Colony Survey

Bee Colony Survey

Bee Colony Survey. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

You see them flitting about everywhere but especially in the garden. Honeybees are extremely important to our plants both in the garden and on the farm as they are one of the chief pollinators out there. Over the past number of years we have been seeing a marked decline in the number of bee colonies with the term colony collapse disorder being coined to describe the losses. A lot of press time has been spent talking about what could possibly be the cause and even more time has been spent studying the colonies in an effort to keep tabs on the progress. Recently the USDA released their annual survey prepared in collaboration with the Bee Informed Partnership and the Apiary Inspectors of America, which reports a marked decrease in bee colony losses compared to previous years and there is some good news to report. Survey results for the 2013/2014 winter were released by USDA, the Bee Informed Partnership and AIA on May 14, and show that 23.2 percent of managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. were lost, compared to 30.5 percent losses reported for the 2012/2013 winter. Over an eight-year period, the average total of colony losses reported is 29.6 percent.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.

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