RESEARCHERS STUMPED BY DECLINING BEE POPULATION

ISSUE 1146

RESEARCHERS STUMPED BY DECLINING BEE POPULATION

Honeybee colonies in Florida, Pennsylvania and several other states are on the decline, and researchers are puzzled as to why. Adult bees have been disappearing in colonies since August.

The elusive plight has been dubbed “fall dwindle disease” in reports from Pennsylvania State University and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS).

Richard Clark, chief of FDACS’s Bureau of Plant & Apiary Inspection, told FFVA that his agency and Penn State are the only entities in the eastern United States investigating the problem. “Some selected beekeepers in Florida have reported dramatic losses. We have partnered with Penn State to do analyses of samples for protozoans, flagellates, chemical residues and a host of other possibilities.”

Possible causes include an increase in varroa mite activity, bacterial infection, weather patterns and chemical buildup in hives. The problem occurs on a somewhat regular basis, but this year, losses have been so great as to put the industry in jeopardy.

Clark said that resesarchers from the University of Montana are interviewing Florida beekeepers and studying audio samples, chemical analyses and beekeeper surveys to determine a common denominator among reported instances of decreasing populations.