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Disaster Hits the Almond Orchards This Year

Honeybee_Almond_BloomAlmond pollination in California requires the use many colonies or hives of bees.  This year, more than 1.6 million bee colonies were used to pollinate the California Almond crop. Nearly all of these colonies were brought in from other states by an army of 1,300 commercial beekeepers.

This staggering number of honeybee colonies accounts for approximately ninety percent of all of the honeybees in the United States.   After pollinating almonds, these bees are often used to pollinate other crops, such as apples, cranberries, cherries and watermelons. Any losses seen during or right after almond pollinating season cascades into the pollination of other crops and into the packaged bee industry, which is what allows new beekeepers to start colonies and existing beekeepers to replace winter losses.

At an impromptu meeting on March 24 in Los Banos, California between beekeepers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 75 beekeepers stated that three-quarters of their hives showed very significant damage.  More beekeepers weighed in later.  It was found that after waiting a few more weeks approximately 60% of all colonies that pollinated almonds showed damage. That is nearly a million honeybee colonies.

The reason why the pesticide losses do not happen right away is because of bee biology and the way bees work to produce their young in the hive.  Bees gather pollen an nectar and store it for later use.  This includes the raising on new bees.  Since bees only live about 28 days, new bees are being raised all the time in a healthy colony.  When nectar and pollen is contaminated it will continue to kill bees even after the bee that brought it to the hive is long gone.  This is why such a high percentage of colonies say dying brood, or young bees still in the cells, on such a large scale.  Many of the pesticides in use are labeled as “safe for use on adult bees.”  This means that these pesticides were only tested on bees that were flying around but the testing never included any investigation into brood rearing or other long term exposure issues.

Beekeepers in California are blaming their losses on pesticides used on the Almond trees.  Almond growers have no restrictions on when and how they can apply pesticides to their trees and that is a large part of the problem, but an even bigger part are that the residue from these pesticides kill bees and kill bee brood, no matter when it is applied.

The EPA and the USDA have claimed for years that pesticides are not hurting honeybees and other pollinators.  This event shows absolute proof on a large scale that pesticides used on Almond trees are dangerous to honeybees.  These are the same chemicals that are used on the vast majority of food crops in the United States. Almond growers typically apply one or a mix of pesticides – which can include clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. This year tank mixing from two new products, tolfenpyrad and cyantraniliprole were used.

The EPA and tBlooming almond trees being sprayed.he USDA has failed to keep pesticides from killing pollinators.  Instead pesticide related bee deaths have increased exponentially.  Because of this and the fact that the beekeeping industry is deemed as insignificant, beekeepers are not protected by any laws or given payment for damages caused by pesticide exposure. This is despite the fact that pollination services provided by honeybees are responsible for 30 billion dollars worth of food annually.

Not only has the EPA and USDA done nothing to protect pollinators, but they have done nothing to assure consumers that any of the above mentioned pesticides are truly safe to be used on food crops.  All beef and dairy cows are exposed to them on a daily basis through the corn silage they eat.  Nearly all commercially raised vegetables are sprayed with them.  Even the plants you purchase at home and garden centers in the spring have been treated with them.  After the sprayers have left the fields and treated seeds have sprouted and been harvested as a food, everybody forgets about the pesticides that may be present.  Nobody knows exactly how much of these systemic pesticides make it into the food chain as corn products, soybeans products, dairy products, beef, and fruits and vegetables. To date, no official testing has been done on this yet.

If the losses in the beekeeping industry do not stop, the beekeeping industry cannot continue to survive.  New regulations, stiff penalties and fines for those responsible for colony death, and the banning of insecticides, fungicides and insect growth inhibitors are the only way to save the industry before it dies with the bees.

To read more about this issue, please read the press release from the Pollinator Stewardship Council or visit this topics thread on their website.

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Bees Make Food Production Possible

Many people think of bees simply as a summertime nuisance. But these small and hard-working insects actually make it possible for many of our favorite foods to reach your table. From apples to almonds to the pumpkin in our pumpkin pies, we have bees to thank.  Depending on an individual’s diet, between one and two thirds of the crops humans use for food production depend on pollination by insects such as bees in some way.  Also, the vast majority of wild plant species also require pollination to survive.

This valuable service that Mother Nature has provided at no cost for thousands of years, however, is increasingly failing. As an example, after 3000 years of sustainable agriculture, farmers in the Chinese province Sichuan have to pollinate apple flowers themselves by using pollination sticks because of the lack of honey bees to pollinate their crops.  These pollination sticks are commonly brushes made of chicken feathers and cigarette filters. This is one small example of a pollination problem occurring world-wide.

Closer to home, the California almond crop is critically at risk each year due to the lack of pollinators that are necessary to pollinate the thousands of blossoms that are on each tree.  To explain how large the problem is, the 2013 almond crop is approximately 800,000 acres, according to Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.  The recommended number of hives or colonies to pollinate the almond crop is two per acre, which means that 1.6 million colonies are needed this year alone.  California only has about 500,000 colonies, so over a million need to be brought in from other parts of the United States.

Because of heavy honey bee colony losses sustained across the nation over the last few years, beekeepers that provide pollination services are not going to have enough colonies to pollinate the almond crop to full capacity this year.   And the almond crop is only one that is at risk. Many fruit and vegetable crops are at risk because of the lack of bees and other pollinator insects.

Bees are the most efficient pollinator.  It is true that birds, bats, beetles, various types of ants and flies, as well as butterflies can be classified as pollinators. The problem with these pollinators is that they are not designed for the job and do not do it as efficiently as the honey bee.  Bees are especially efficient at pollination because their goal in life is to collect pollen and nectar exclusively, as these become their food.  To accomplish this, bees visit many flowers of the same species during a single trip and have hairy bodies that easily pick up pollen grains.

How Much do Honey Bees Provide to Food Production?

In the United States, Honey Bees are required to ensure pollination and help guarantee the production of more than $15 billion crops each year.  If you enjoy eating Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Squash, Almonds, Apples, Cherries, Various citrus fruits, and various berry crops such as strawberries and blueberries, you have been enjoying the labor of honeybees.  Without bees to pollinate these crops, the blooms would not mature into fruit.  Bees provide crops such alfalfa, carrots, canola, and various clovers the ability to ensure that seeds are created to grow the next generation of plants.  Remember without the seeds it would be impossible to plant alfalfa or clover to feed to cattle, or grow carrots, peppers, cabbages, and various other vegetables in the garden.

Internationally, global food production worth over 200 billion dollars each year relies on the pollination services of honey bees and to a lesser extent other insects.  This means that as the honey bee and other pollinator’s populations decline, there will be a direct impact on the stability of food production and consumer prices.  It will also mean serious consequences for human health and the food supply. This means that an awful lot rests on the small honey bee.

Here is a partial list of crop plants pollinated by bees.  These are some plants used for food or food production:  Okra, Kiwifruit, Onion, Cashew, Celery, Strawberry, Starfruit, Beet, Mustard, Rapeseed (canola oil), Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Turnip, Chili/Red/Bell/Green pepper, Papaya, Safflower, Caraway, Chestnut, Watermelon, Tangerine, Coconut, Coffee, Coriander, Cantaloupe, Cucumber, Squash, Pumpkin, Gourd, Marrow, Zucchini, Lemon, Lime, Carrot, Strawberry, Soybean, Cotton, Sunflower, Flax, Apple, Mango, Alfalfa, Passion fruit, Avocado, Lima bean, Kidney bean, Haricot bean, Adzuki bean, Mung bean, String bean, Green bean, Allspice, Apricot, Sweet Cherry, Sour cherry, Plum, Greengage, Mirabelle, Sloe, Almond, Peach, Nectarine, Guava, Pomegranate, Pear, Black currant, Red currant, Boysenberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Elderberry, Sesame, Eggplant, Various clover varieties, Blueberry, Cranberry, Vanilla, Vetch, peas, Tomato, Grapes

If it were not for honey bees, food production would be very difficult and many of our favorite foods would not exist.  Remember to support your local beekeeper. They help to keep our food supply safe.