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<h1><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Honeybees
making a comeback in California<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:kzito@sfchronicle.com">Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff
Writer</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=date><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Monday,
April 11, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL&o=0&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1026"
src="cid:image001.gif@01CBF9D0.DA4A0930" vspace=1
alt="Beekeeper Paulino Dustamante prepares a commercial shipme..."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL&o=1&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1027"
src="cid:image002.gif@01CBF9D0.DA4A0930" vspace=1
alt="Queen bees are marked before shipping, so that they can b..."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL&o=2&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1028"
src="cid:image003.gif@01CBF9D0.DA4A0930" vspace=1
alt="Tom Parisian, owner of Honey Bee Genetics holds several b..."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL&o=3&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1029"
src="cid:image004.gif@01CBF9D0.DA4A0930" vspace=1
alt="A rogue honeybee climbs through a sea of queen bees in en..."></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span
id=articlebody>After tumbling to a 23-year low in 2007, <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s commercial honeybee population
seems to be on the rebound - though a mysterious and deadly epidemic persists
in ravaging some colonies.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Apiarists
in the state, most of whom rent their bees to farmers for crop pollination, say
this and last year's wet winters - and more plentiful greenery - may have
helped temper the effects of "colony collapse disorder," a
little-understood scourge that has virtually wiped out some bee stocks across <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>But other
beekeepers say they've simply gotten better at compensating for the die-off by
dividing their colonies, importing new queen bees or buying whole colonies
outright (the number of bees in a commercial colony fluctuates through the
year, ranging between about 20,000 and 150,000). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We're
learning new ways to deal with (colony collapse disorder), so the numbers are
getting better," said Frank Pendell, president of the California State Beekeepers
Association. "It's just like hitting your finger over and over with a
hammer. You learn to stop doing it."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
number of honeybee colonies in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
is at its highest level in seven years - good news in a state where the
black-and-yellow bug represents a critical link in the multibillion-dollar
food-production cycle. In their search for nectar, the buzzing insects
unwittingly distribute pollen - the equivalent of male sperm - to the female
part of plants. Nearly 100 <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
crops, including melons, sunflowers, carrots, cauliflower and almonds, rely on
bee pollination.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
National Agricultural Statistics Service, one of the only state or federal
agencies that track honeybees, counted 410,000 colonies in California last
year, up from 355,000 in 2009 and a rock-bottom 340,000 in 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Count
considered low<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In
general, the national data under-represent the number of colonies because the
annual survey is voluntary and does not include operations that strictly rent
their bees for pollination; most industry watchers put the number of <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> colonies at
500,000 to 550,000. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>That
remains well below the recent peak of 620,000 colonies in 1989 (the records go
back to 1987). Nevertheless, honeybee experts are heartened by what they see as
marked improvement in the health of many hives - particularly after the 2007
nadir.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>One
factor may be Mother Nature. More rain in 2010 and 2011 may have boosted the
bees' floral food supply, and lower summer temperatures may reduce heat-related
stressors, according to Eric Mussen, a well-known bee authority at UC Davis.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"On
the whole it looks like the bees are doing better," Mussen said.
"With a little luck, this may be one of our better years."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Cyclical
die-offs<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The loss
of 15 to 25 percent of a colony's bees over a winter is pretty normal, Mussen
said. And over the history of apiculture - European honeybees were brought to
the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>
in the 1600s - mass deaths are not unheard of. Wild bee populations have
plunged in recent years due to loss of habitat, and commercially raised bees
have succumbed to cyclical die-offs due to a host of diseases and microbes.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Colony
collapse disorder - first described in 2006 by a <st1:State w:st="on">Pennsylvania</st1:State>
beekeeper who lost most of his bees after trucking his hives to <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State> for the winter -
is striking in its devastation. The sickness seems to target the insect's gut,
interfering with its ability to take in nutrients. While the disorder culls an
average of one-third of each colony's bees in <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>
and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
in some cases up to 90 percent of the workers simply fly off and die.
Scientists are still struggling to find the culprit - or culprits.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Recent
research suggests several causes working in tandem, including dry weather, poor
food sources, environmental stress, insecticides, fungi, mites and viruses.
Some have even blamed genetically modified crops and cell phone radiation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Almonds
need bees<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While
scientists continue to narrow the suspects, farmers are keeping a close eye on
the bees' fortunes. No product has more at stake than the state's $2 billion
annual almond crop.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Each
year, the almond bloom in the Central Valley requires about 1.5 million
honeybee colonies for pollination, or about half of all the commercial colonies
in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Beekeepers charged between $140 and $165 per hive this almond season, Pendell
said; one acre typically requires two hives for pollination.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Tom
Parisian, who tends 3,500 colonies in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Vacaville</st1:place></st1:City>,
has changed the way he rents bees to almond farmers after colony collapse
disorder claimed about half of his bees in 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>For
instance, some growers use pesticides that experts have implicated in the bee
plague. On days when farmers spray those chemicals, Parisian removes his hives.
It's expensive and time-consuming, Parisian said, but if the tactic helps keep
his bees healthy, he's willing to take the hit.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Parisian
also supplements his bees' diet with syrup to boost protein levels and treats
the colonies with anti-viral medicine.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"You
can't tell which one or two things may be having an effect," he said.
"But the bottom line is the bees came through last winter in better shape
- probably better than they have been in 30 years."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Still, no
cure for the disorder exists, and Mussen continues to hear from beekeepers who
lose half of a colony seemingly overnight.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=dtlcomment><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>E-mail Kelly Zito at <a href="mailto:kzito@sfchronicle.com">kzito@sfchronicle.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</span>
<p id=url><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL">http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p id=pageno><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>This
article appeared on page <strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">A - 1</font></b></strong>
of the San Francisco Chronicle<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
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<p class=MsoNormal><st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on"><font size=3
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