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<DIV class=art_date>Thursday, March 29, 2007</DIV><B>
<DIV class=art_hdln>Bees: Talk to deal with woes of hives</DIV></B><BR>
<DIV class=art_byln>By Tim Hambrick</DIV>
<DIV class=art_crdtln>SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL</DIV>
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<P>Beekeeping is hard work- no matter if it is a hobby, a business or a combination of both. The rewards can be enjoyable - profitability and jars of good honey are just some of the benefits that beekeepers in the United States enjoy.</P>
<P>However, beekeeping, like any other agricultural enterprise, has its fair share of perils. It seems that beekeepers have had more than their fair share of peril in the last 10 years.</P>
<P>Tracheal mites devastated much of the bee population until beekeepers learned how to deal with this pest.</P>
<P>Next in line was the Varroa mite. This parasite lived on the outside of the bee, draining life out of the individual bee, and, eventually, the hive.</P>
<P>Between the tracheal mite and the Varroa mite, most of the wild population of bees has been decimated. Still, the beekeeper has learned how to manage and make ends meet.</P>
<P>Loss of the wild bee population places a strain on agriculture, especially on fruit and vegetable production. Bees are necessary for pollination and fruit set on such crops as strawberries and squash and cucumbers.</P>
<P>Honeybees aren’t the only bees that pollinate, but they are easy to raise and they are easy to work with. They produce other useful items such as honey and beeswax, just to name a couple. In North Carolina, honeybee products and services they provide are worth more than $80 million.</P>
<P>Late in 2006 and continuing into 2007, a new problem is emerging that has beekeepers across the United States worried. It is called Colony Collapse Disorder, and it can be devastating.</P>
<P>To date, it’s not known if this problem is a true disease; experts haven’t determined a causal agent - hence, it is called a disorder. The vast majority of the bees in the hive tend just to disappear without a trace, from a hive that appeared to be healthy and functioning normally.</P>
<P>That’s where the “collapse” part of the name comes in. Some beekeepers in northern parts of the United States report 60 percent to 90 percent loss of hives.</P>
<P>It takes a lot of money to replace hives. That also means that a large number of hives twill not be available in the pollination market for fruit and vegetable farmers to use on the 2007 crop.</P>
<P>The N.C. Cooperative Extension Service in Forsyth County wants to educate beekeepers about Colony Collapse Disorder. Beekeepers need to know who has been affected by this problem and who hasn’t.</P>
<P>Beekeepers need to know what affected beekeepers do and don’t have in common. Beekeepers also need to know what they might be able to do to protect both their investment and their bees from this malady.</P>
<P>The extension service will sponsor at 6 p.m. today a discussion on Colony Collapse Disorder. Richard Fell, an apiculturist with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, and Don Hopkins, the state bee inspector with the N.C. Department of Agriculture, will lead this discussion.</P>
<P>If you are a beekeeper, register for this meeting by calling 703-2850. Come get the latest information on another in a long line of problems the American beekeeper is facing.</P>
<P>■ Tim Hambrick is an agricultural extension agent in Forsyth County.</P></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12">Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR>Coevolution Institute<BR>423 Washington St. 5th<BR>San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>415 362 1137<BR>LDA@coevolution.org<BR><A title=http://www.coevolution.org/ href="http://www.coevolution.org/">http://www.coevolution.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><A title=http://www.pollinator.org/ href="http://www.pollinator.org/">http://www.pollinator.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><A title=http://www.nappc.org/ href="http://www.nappc.org/">http://www.nappc.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Bee Ready for National Pollinator Week: June 24-30, 2007. Contact us <BR>for more information at www.pollinator.org </FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><BR><B><I>Our future flies on the wings of pollinators.</B></I></FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>