<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
R. Thomas (Tom) Van Arsdall<BR>
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Van Arsdall & Associates<BR>
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tom@vanarsdall.com<BR>
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_____ <BR>
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From: FIEN, LLC - Jack Cooper [mailto:JLC@fien.com]<BR>
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 3:33 PM<BR>
To: Crop Protection, Agricultural Research and Risk Assessment<BR>
Cc: Information copy for<BR>
Subject: Maryland Bee Die-Offs Caused by Warmer than Normal Early Winter<BR>
Weather, according a June 13, 2007 Associated Press story which notes that "<BR>
... Maryland beekeepers have lost 45 percent of their bees since last year<BR>
... An unusually warm November and D<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Maryland Bee Die-Offs Caused by Warmer than Normal Early Winter Weather,<BR>
according a June 13, 2007 Associated Press story which notes that " ...<BR>
Maryland beekeepers have lost 45 percent of their bees since last year ...<BR>
An unusually warm November and December likely caused high fatalities in the<BR>
state's 8,200 bee colonies, said Jerry Fischer, state apiary inspector. In a<BR>
briefing to the state Agricultural Commission, Fischer said the warm early<BR>
winter fooled bees into continuing reproduction - called "brood bearing."<BR>
When temperatures dropped in January, Fischer said, the bees died ..."<BR>
<BR>
Document Title: The title of the June 13, 2007 Associated Press Story is<BR>
"Weather said to blame for bee die-off"<BR>
<BR>
Organization: Associated Press<BR>
<BR>
Summary: The following information is taken from the AP story:<BR>
<BR>
Susan Hays, whose family runs Hays Apiaries in Frederick County, said<BR>
weather was her problem in the last year. The warm December days led to<BR>
brooding, then when the weather turned, the bees would remain sitting on the<BR>
broods instead of getting food - even if the honey was just inches away.<BR>
<BR>
"They just froze or starved to death," said Hays, who estimated she lost 10<BR>
percent to 15 percent of her 2,000 colonies last winter. Her family sends<BR>
honeybees as far as California, carried by refrigerated trucks, to pollinate<BR>
almond crops. The apiary also ships bees to mid-Atlantic area fields to<BR>
pollinate cucumbers, watermelons and apples.<BR>
<BR>
Maryland only has three large commercial beekeepers such as the Hays family.<BR>
The majority of Maryland's 1,312 registered beekeepers are hobbyists with a<BR>
colony or two in the backyard, and they're more susceptible to bad weather.<BR>
<BR>
"I had about 80 percent losses over the winter," said Carl Kahkones, owner<BR>
of 35 hives at South Mountain Apiaries in Boonsboro. Kahkones is a<BR>
small-scale honey producer and sells to farmers' markets ...<BR>
<BR>
Source: June 13, 2007 AP story on STLToday.com the internet publication of<BR>
the St Louis Post Dispatch Newspaper.<BR>
<BR>
Web site: The STLToday.com June 13, 2007 story is posted at<BR>
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HONEYBEE_DIE_OFF?SITE=MOSTP<BR>
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HONEYBEE_DIE_OFF?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=<BR>
HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT> &SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT<BR>
<BR>
Contact: Maryland State Apiary Inspector, Jerry Fischer, may be reached at<BR>
410 841 5920; e-mail: FischerJE@MdA.State.Md.us<BR>
<BR>
Prepared by: This message was distributed by Jack Cooper, who may be reached<BR>
at e-mail: jlc@fien.com or 301-384-8287<BR>
<BR>
This article (#1409) was distributed by e-mail on Jun 14, 2007 to those<BR>
whose names are on the FIEN, LLC Subject Matter Distribution Lists for<BR>
Agricultural Research, Crop Protection, Risk Assessment and Communication<BR>
<BR>
end<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
The above information was sent to you by:<BR>
<BR>
Jack Cooper<BR>
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Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC (FIEN, LLC) - see<BR>
http://www.fien.com <http://www.fien.com/> - FIEN, LLC is a regulatory and<BR>
policy e-mail update service for the agriculture and food industry which is<BR>
operated as a partnership by:<BR>
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Jack L. Cooper<BR>
Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC<BR>
33 Falling Creek Court, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904<BR>
Phone: 301 384 8287 --- E- Mail: JLC@fien.com<BR>
and<BR>
Cindy Roberts<BR>
Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC<BR>
1464 Harvard St. NW, Suite 14<BR>
Washington, DC 20009-4610<BR>
Phone: 202 669 6951 --- E-Mail: CAR@fien.com</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
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Coeovlution Institute<BR>
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415 362 1137 (p)<BR>
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