When it comes to honeybees, the news is not good: An
annual survey conducted by Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), a private
research group, found that 32 percent of Virginia�s managed honeybee
colonies died last winter (October 2013-April 2014), higher than the
national loss rate (23.2 percent) during the same period, although lower
than Virginia�s previous 44.6 percent winter loss.
While final figures for this year are not yet available,
Keith Tignor, a biologist and state apiarist (beekeeper) with the Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, says last year�s survey
confirms �what we already know � we continue to lose bees at an alarming
rate in Virginia.�
He explains, �In October and November 2014 we were
getting calls about bee losses. We�d go into the hives and the bees were
starving, just from the [previously] dry summer. When plants are growing,
they need water to produce nectar. One of the things we do not have control
over is the environment: The summer was dry and as a result honeybees ate up
a lot of stored honey, [making] them not as strong going into the winter.�
The plight of honeybees in recent years has been
documented in numerous articles, reports and studies. First shipped from
England to Virginia in 1622, honeybees were valued by early American
colonists for everything from beeswax for candles to honey for sweetening
food to medicinal uses. But today honeybees� most important role relates to
food production: In Virginia alone, over 80 crops are dependent on the
honeybee for pollination to produce fruits, vegetables and nuts. Beekeepers
are fond of saying that one out of every three bites of your food is either
directly or indirectly related to insect pollination.
�Some crops, like wheat and
barley, are wind-pollinated but [crops like] apples, peaches, pumpkins,
squash, strawberries, and even peanuts to some extent, rely heavily on
pollinators [like honeybees],� Tignor explains.
Scientists attribute honeybee losses in recent years to a
combination of things, including loss of forage land, parasites, pathogens,
fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and exposure to pesticides. Originating
in Asia, the varroa mite was introduced here in the late 1980s and has since
spread around the world. Varroa mites weaken bees� immune systems and carry
viruses. When CCD (colony collapse disorder) appeared in 2006, worldwide
attention became focused on dramatic honeybee losses.
Colonies contain the fertile queen bee, a large
population of infertile worker bees and fertile male honeybees known as
drones. Drones� only function is to mate with a queen; they die shortly
afterwards. The queen bee stores sperm for future egg fertilization in her
body and can live up to five years. CCD is a mysterious syndrome where a
dead colony with no adult bees or dead bee bodies is found, but a live queen
and usually immature bees and honey can be found.
Glenn Clayton, 82, owns the 69-acre Hungry Hill Farm in
Shipman in Nelson County. Clayton started keeping bees in the 1960s while
living in New Jersey and moved to Virginia in 1983. Today he has 200-300
hives, with the majority of income coming from providing local pollination
services. He also sells honey to local shops. The vast majority of Virginia
beekeepers are hobbyists or sideline beekeepers; Clayton is among the 2
percent of state beekeepers who are commercial beekeepers.
�August starts our winter in
terms of getting the bees ready for spring. We had a drought in August 2013
so there was no food source for them to collect pollen. We started with 197
colonies; during the summer a colony might have 60,000 to 80,000 bees but in
the winter they can phase down to 40,000 bees. By March 2014 we had 17
colonies alive,� he recalls. �We had to buy packages [of bees]. We go
through about two tons of sugar each year feeding the bees if necessary.
This winter we�ve had about a 25 percent loss so far.�
Clayton says he used miticides to combat mites until
about 15 years ago, explaining, �The amount of money you spend on miticides,
and they died anyway ... so I decided not to use miticides anymore.�
Instead, Clayton raised bees from survivors and purchased
new bees. He participated in the BIP survey and says that when survey
results came back last year �without using miticides we had low mites.�
Jerry Mattiaccio, 52, has operated Rock Hill Honeybee
Farms in Stafford since 2010. A hobbyist beekeeper since age 9, Mattiaccio
started a commercial beekeeping operation after a career as a special agent
with the U.S. Army. He oversees 650 hives, and his business is divided
almost equally between pollination services, honey sales, and sales of
packaged bees and queens. He transports bees for pollination as far away as
Florida and California. Mattiaccio calls demand in California, where growers
rely on transported bees to pollinate almond farms producing 80 percent of
the world�s almonds, �desperate.�
�We lose a colony, we divide, we
move on. It�s disheartening in some respects because you are losing them and
constantly splitting your numbers,� he says of commercial beekeeping. �It�s
kind of like a constant war, constantly playing a numbers [game]. But once
you are around bees, it becomes very addictive.�
The implications of honeybee losses are staggering, since
pollination services from managed honeybee colonies accounts for $16 billion
in yearly crop production in America and over $220 billion worldwide.
With ongoing concern about pesticide use and its effect
on honeybees, Tignor admits finding pesticides in hives is not unusual.
He says the bottom-line on
pesticides is, �Whether it�s honeybees or any other pollinator like moths,
fireflies, or bumblebees, you may want to control a specific pest, but most
of these insecticides are broad-spectrum, so other insects will be impacted
by it.�
Tignor advises backyard gardeners to read pesticide
labels and abide by the instructions. He adds, �Some insecticides are more
lethal to bees; Sevin, for example, is extremely toxic to honeybees. Also
pollinators are generally more active in the morning, so delaying [using
pesticides] until the late afternoon or early evening will reduce exposure.�
Tignor says going organic can reduce or eliminate the use
of synthetic pesticides. Using pesticides post-bloom also will not impact
pollinators as much, as they look for the flower part of plants.
Additionally, you can choose plants known to attract pollinators (see
sidebar). Since honeybees get their nourishment from nectar and pollen,
planting a diverse variety of flowers and plants in your garden will help.
Despite the losses, Tignor says he remains optimistic.
�Not everyone [beekeepers] is
losing 30 percent of bees, that�s the average for the entire beekeeping
population,� he points out. �We are seeing more beekeeping groups sponsoring
introductory beekeeping classes. We are seeing people [beekeepers]
frustrated and getting out [of beekeeping], but there are people right
behind them wanting to get into it, and some classes are even turning
[prospective beekeepers] away because they don�t have enough room to
accommodate them.�
Mattiaccio says he doesn�t expect bees to disappear
anytime soon, but he believes the cost of food will rise because pollinating
prices are going up dramatically.
�Pollinators are also staying in
locations, so more farmers will compete for those bees. If they don�t get
bees, there will not be a crop, which will drive food prices up,� he
explains.
Clayton says, �Before the 1980s it was a pleasure keeping
bees. If you lost 10 percent of your colonies that was average. Then
everything, the varroa mite, the small hive beetle, started hitting. Today
if you lose 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, you are lucky.�
Despite the losses, he adds, �I will maintain my bee
colonies as long as my pocketbook can afford it. But if this problem
[honeybee losses] cannot be resolved, we are in a heap of trouble.�
What You Can Do to Help:
�We have no control over dry
weather, but people should be aware that we can augment what nature is not
giving us, like planting flowers beneficial to pollinators and making sure
they are properly watered,� says Keith Tignor, biologist and state apiarist
with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Tignor says major �honey plants�
in Virginia include aster, sweet clover, goldenrod, tulip trees, poplar
trees and whitewood, sourwood, sorrel tree, titi, black locust, false
acacia, and yellow locust.
Citizens can select plants known to attract
pollinators in their area. To determine
which plants are best for your region, go to:
pollinator.org/guides.htm and enter your zip code for area-specific
information.
For More Information:
� Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services: www.vdacs.virginia.gov.
� Local extension offices provide information on planting
and the Master Gardener programs. Find yours at www.ext.vt.edu.
� Virginia Pesticide Safety website:
www.vapesticidesafety.com. This website not only contains information about
proper pesticide use, it also contains information about home, lawn and
garden pests and options to manage them.
� Virginia Pesticide Waste Disposal Program:
www.vdacs.virginia.gov/pesticides/disposal.shtml. This
program assists producers, licensed pesticide dealers and pest control
firms, golf courses and homeowners in the proper disposal of unwanted
pesticides.
� Virginia State Beekeepers Association:
www.virginiabeekeepers.org.
� For information about getting started in beekeeping,
contact: [email protected]. gov.
� For information about Hungry Hill Farm:
www.hungryhillhoney.com.
� For information about Rock Hill Honey Bee Farms:
www.rockhillhoneybeefarms.com.
