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<DIV class=contentBlockHeadline>Beekeepers seek federal assistance for losses</DIV>
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<DIV class=contentBlockByline>By Michael Doyle / Bee Washington Bureau</DIV><!--/STORYHEADLINE--><!--STORYBODY-->
<DIV class=contentBlockDate>03/29/07 10:52:18</DIV>
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<P>WASHINGTON - Gene Brandi is losing his six-legged livestock, and lawmakers want to know why.
<P>A Los Banos-based commercial beekeeper, Brandi normally manages about 2,000 colonies. On Thursday, Brandi told a House panel that about 40 percent of his colonies died out over the winter - by far, his worst loss in three decades of business.
<P>"Even though my loss is substantial, other beekeepers throughout the country have suffered much greater losses," Brandi testified.
<P>Beekeepers nationwide have likewise been reporting unexplained losses of between 30 and 90 percent, a top Agriculture Department official advised the House subcommittee on horticulture and organic agriculture. It's being called colony collapse disorder, and the causes are murky.
<P>The abrupt collapse of bee colonies typically leaves only a queen and a few attendants remaining alive. Pathogens, pesticides and mites have all been blamed.
<P>Scientists more generally say "stress" -- physical, not mental -- can compromise bees' immune systems. Beyond that, numerous research questions beckon.
<P>"This is an urgent crisis," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced. "It demands urgent attention."
<P>That's because farmers rely on commercial hives to pollinate roughly 90 crops. The San Joaquin Valley's $2.5 billion-a-year almond industry is particularly reliant on hard-working bees.
<P>Each year in California, Stanislaus County almond grower Paul Wenger noted Thursday, "our crop fortunes rise and fall" on the pollination work handled by more than one million bee colonies raised or imported into the state. Wenger bring his bees in from Oregon; other farmers have taken to bringing in packages of bees from Australia.
<P>"They're essentially six-legged livestock," said Dr. May Berenbaum, chair of the entomology department at the University of Illinois. "Bee health is utterly critical here."
<P>Cardoza was able to use his chairmanship of the House horticulture and organic agriculture panel to convene the hearing and summon local witnesses. Beekeepers say the next task will be boosting federal investment, perhaps in this year's farm bill that Cardoza is helping to write.
<P>Currently, the federal government spends several million dollars a year on bee research. Beekeepers and their allies want this increased. On Thursday, Brandi and Wenger added that the federal government should also assign bee scientists to the well-situated University of California at Davis.
<P>"The need for additional bee research is obvious," Brandi said. "There are just too many unanswered questions that need to be addressed if the bee industry is to survive."
<P>Watch The Bee for continuing coverage. </P></DIV></DIV></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>