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<DIV><EM>Science News</EM></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV class="topic content_description print"><FONT size=3><STRONG>Honeybees
still at risk</STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class="content_authors print">By <A class="anonymous print"
href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/authored/id/70/name/Susan_Milius">Susan
Milius</A></DIV>
<DIV class="content_edition print"><SPAN class=exclusive><FONT color=#ff0000>Web
edition</FONT></SPAN> : <A class=anonymous
title="Thursday, October 23rd, 2008">Thursday, October 23rd, 2008</A></DIV>
<UL class=content_functions id=content_functions_top>
<LI></LI></UL>
<DIV class="content_summary print">Bees still suffering from colony collapse
disorder</DIV>
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WASHINGTON — The coming winter could be tough for honeybees.
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P>In winter of 2007-2008, more than 36 percent of
hives in North America failed from such miseries as mites and the ailment called
colony collapse disorder, says Dennis vanEngelsdorp, <ST1:PLACE
w:st="on"><ST1:STATE w:st="on">Pennsylvania</ST1:STATE></ST1:PLACE>’s acting
state apiarist. In the winter of 2006, more than 31 percent of hives failed.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P>Bee fates in the especially stressful time of
winter aren’t easy to predict, but there was concern at a <ST1:PLACE
w:st="on"><ST1:CITY w:st="on">Washington</ST1:CITY>, <ST1:STATE
w:st="on">D.C.</ST1:STATE></ST1:PLACE> conference of the North American
Pollinator Protection Campaign on October 23.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P>Beekeepers can cope with a certain amount of loss
by dividing the surviving colonies to create replacements. But the beekeepers
themselves may be another matter. “If they lose 30 percent again, some of them
are going out of business,” vanEngelsdorp says. The specialized skills of the
keepers who follow the crops around the country can’t be easily replaced, and
crops might end up wanting for bees to pollinate them. </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P>Already the migrating bee suppliers have dwindled
to the point where providing hives for the almond crop in <ST1:PLACE
w:st="on"><ST1:STATE w:st="on">California</ST1:STATE></ST1:PLACE> requires half
the hives in the country. “There’s no more fat in the system,” says
vanEngelsdorp.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P>Such bee losses “aren’t sustainable,” says Jeff
Pettis, who leads the Bee Research Laboratory at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture in Beltsville, Md. “If dairy farmers were losing a third of their
herds each year, there would be many people up in arms.” </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P>Pettis is working on a project to explain colony
collapse disorder, commercial honeybees’ latest threat. Starting in the winter
of 2006, beekeepers in <ST1:PLACE w:st="on">North America</ST1:PLACE> reported
that worker bees had gone missing from hives, leaving the young brood without
nursemaids.. </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P>The mystery has disappeared from the headlines,
but bees are still disappearing. Many factors contribute to the disorder by
weakening the bees, making them susceptible to a final blow. Just what those
factors are is still under investigation.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P><SPAN></SPAN>One of the more recent findings, from
a <ST1:PLACE w:st="on"><ST1:STATE w:st="on">Pennsylvania</ST1:STATE></ST1:PLACE>
consortium of researchers, is the observation that bees that encase some of
their pollen in wax, creating an entombed red mass, face a higher risk of colony
collapse disorder than bees that don’t.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P>Pettis and a research task force will release
details on warning signs and other aspects of colony collapse disorder next
spring. </P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Gill Sans MT" size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR>Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR><B>Pollinator
Partnership </B><BR>423 Washington Street, 5th floor<BR>San Francisco, CA
94111<BR>415-362-1137<BR>LDA@pollinator.org</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#0000ff size=4 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="14"><B><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></B></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"></B><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">www.nappc.org</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="12"><B><I>National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2009. <BR>Beecome
involved at <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></I></FONT></B></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="f0cb0c553518a2699947eac380d553dc"><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Play online games for FREE at Games.com! All of your favorites, no registration required and great graphics – <a href="http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1211202682x1200689022/aol?redir=
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