02/08/07 Losing Bees

Losing Bees. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Beekeepers are facing the challenge of mysterious bee losses. In fact - beekeepers are claiming hive losses ranging from 30 to 90-percent. One beekeeper fears he'll lose all but nine of his 12-hundred colonies this winter. That's why the National Honey Board is getting involved - approving an emergency request for 13-thousand dollars to support research into these bee losses. Lee Heine - National Honey Board Chairman - explains. HEINE: They are reporting basically unprecedented losses. It's been termed by the research people  they've put a title of fall dwindle disease which means the bees are leaving the hives and not returning and this threatens the pollination industry and of course production of commercial honey big time. Heine recently returned from the American Beekeeping Federation annual convention and the American Honey Producers Association convention. He says beekeepers were discussing the problem - the unknowns behind the problem - and the impact the losses could have. And while Heine says those losses have a major impact on the honey industry and beekeepers - he says they also pose a serious threat to the 15-billion dollar pollination industry that supports the nation's fruit, nut and vegetable crops each year. HEINE: There were commercial beekeepers that have lost 60 to 70% of their live hives already and no rhyme or reason and test hadn't proven what it is so that's cutting them short on planned cash flow with the almond crop, because the almond growers right now are paying us $125 to $150 per hive to pollinate their crop. They need us deperate so the timing of this is terrible. And it's not just almonds. The Florida Department of Agriculture says honeybee pollination is critical to citrus, blueberry, watermelon, cucumber and squash production. Without it - the department says the food supply could decrease by a third - virtually eliminating watermelons, cucumbers and squash. Unfortunately - what's causing fall dwindle - Heine says - is simply unknown. HEINE: The only thing that has been common so far is that they were migratory beekeepers. In other words beekeepers who moved their bees and that was it for a common ground. They're saying there's a form of extraordinary stress at least a couple of months prior to this first incidence but it's just strange. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.