national pollinator week

The Beekeeper

Evidence that Bee Decline Is Reducing Food Supply

July 6, 2008 at 6:00PM By Kim Flottum | comment

A scientist with her feet on the ground, two commercial beekeepers, and for the first time ... Colony Collapse Disorder has caused a reduction in food production.

Maryann Frazier is a Senior Extension Associate at Penn State specializing in apiculture, and has been for over 20 years. She has a list of credentials as long as your arm making her uniquely qualified to be part of the CCD working group. She knows her stuff. And she has a lot to say about what’s been going on, and what’s been found.

Right off, she took the Subcommittee to task for their lack of action in securing funds to study CCD...

"However, I believe the magnitude and timeliness of the response (of this subcommittee to the CCD problem) has not matched the scale and urgency needed to save an industry valued at more than $14 Billion."

She next asked them, “How would our government respond if one out of every three cows was dying?” ... then continued ... ”While this committee held its first timely hearing in March of 2007, the funding that has been allocated to date falls far short of the time sensitive and potentially catastrophic nature of this problem.” Go Maryann!

She then proposed five additional “Action Items” that could immediately move critical research forward and help beekeepers survive. They include...

Reducing the cost of pesticide analytical services provided by USDA AMS
Creating a new USDA critical issues program to develop alternative control methods for varroa mites
Providing additional funding aimed at understanding pollinator decline and improving pollinator health that includes native species of pollinators
Providing direct financial assistance to beekeepers suffering from high losses
Directing APHIS to immediately implement a national survey for honey bee diseases

A few other comments....

A recent survey from 11 states has revealed that IAPV (Israeli acute paralysis virus, a probable indicator, but not cause of CCD) is more widely distributed than previously observed
Two long term studies following 260 colonies have collected nearly 4,000 samples to date to study, and to keep for additional analysis.
The study looking at the role of pesticides in pollinator decline and CCD is ongoing in PA apple orchards; plus pesticide build-up in wax combs and foundation studies are still ongoing; lab bioassays on the synergistic effects of multiple pesticide residues and the potential impacts of pesticide adjuvants are under study, too.

Maryann then talked more about the pesticide studies....

“For example, pesticides at sublethal levels have been shown to impair the learning abilities of honey bees and to suppress their immune systems. For these reasons, we believe that pesticide exposure may be one of the factors contributing to pollinator decline and to CCD.” ...

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tags: food, congress, bees, pollination, colony collapse disorder, pesticides, honey, farming, agriculture, Cucumbers, national pollinator week

What You Didn't Hear Reported About the Congressional Bee Hearings

June 30, 2008 at 8:02AM By Kim Flottum | comment

I was sort of surprised at the lack of coverage the mainstream media gave to the festivities in Washington last week during National Pollinator Week. What with the continuous, nearly daily coverage newspapers, magazines and blogs give to Colony Collapse Disorder, the loss of pollinators, and the threat of increasing food prices ... you’d think the media would be interested ... but, maybe not.

One reason for what appears to be apathy is that it wasn’t very well publicized ... you had to want to know it was going on to know it went on and what happened. I wanted to know and still had trouble finding out the who, what, where, and when, and then only because a Washington insider asked someone at Pollinator Protection what was going on and they told him, and he told me.

Of course a good investigative reporter would have done the digging and found out ... but if you have to dig to find something it must be pretty well hidden, don’t you think? Those speaking knew, of course. At least they showed up on time.

What went on? The House Committee On Agriculture, Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture held a hearing on Pollinator Health and Colony Collapse Disorder. Basically, this same Subcommittee held a hearing a few months ago and gave USDA, in no uncertain terms, orders to get this thing fixed. Last week was a follow up and they wanted to see what has happened since they gave that directive. Their reaction seemed mixed. ...

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tags: money, congress, bees, pollination, national pollinator week

It's National Pollinator Week. Go Pollinate Something!

June 25, 2008 at 9:12AM By Kim Flottum | comment

We haven’t been ignoring National Pollinator Week this year (June 22–28), but there’s so much to take in that it took this long to get it together. If you haven’t yet, take a look at their website here pollinator.org for all the information.

This group has been instrumental in gaining attention to the status of all pollinators – not just honey bees – and the precarious situations many, if not most, of them are in due to changes in their environment, pesticide problems, habitat loss and the like.

To help reverse some of these trends, the Pollinator people have put together a wealth of information that you can use, whether you are a teacher, a naturalist or just concerned about what’s going on in the world outside ... both with honey bees and their problems, and all pollinators. Take a look at these features...

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