[Pollinator] "Weather said to blame for bee die-off"

[Ladadams at aol.com]

R. Thomas (Tom) Van Arsdall

   Van Arsdall & Associates

   13605 McLane Place

   Fredericksburg, VA  22407-2344

   (540) 785-0949

   tom at vanarsdall.com

  _____ 

From: FIEN, LLC - Jack Cooper [mailto:JLC at fien.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 3:33 PM
To: Crop Protection, Agricultural Research and Risk Assessment
Cc: Information copy for
Subject: Maryland Bee Die-Offs Caused by Warmer than Normal Early Winter
Weather, according a June 13, 2007 Associated Press story which notes that "
... Maryland beekeepers have lost 45 percent of their bees since last year
... An unusually warm November and D




Maryland Bee Die-Offs Caused by Warmer than Normal Early Winter Weather,
according a June 13, 2007 Associated Press story which notes that " ...
Maryland beekeepers have lost 45 percent of their bees since last year ...
An unusually warm November and December likely caused high fatalities in the
state's 8,200 bee colonies, said Jerry Fischer, state apiary inspector. In a
briefing to the state Agricultural Commission, Fischer said the warm early
winter fooled bees into continuing reproduction - called "brood bearing."
When temperatures dropped in January, Fischer said, the bees died ..."

Document Title: The title of the June 13, 2007 Associated Press Story is
"Weather said to blame for bee die-off"

Organization: Associated Press

Summary: The following information is taken from the AP story:

Susan Hays, whose family runs Hays Apiaries in Frederick County, said
weather was her problem in the last year. The warm December days led to
brooding, then when the weather turned, the bees would remain sitting on the
broods instead of getting food - even if the honey was just inches away.

"They just froze or starved to death," said Hays, who estimated she lost 10
percent to 15 percent of her 2,000 colonies last winter. Her family sends
honeybees as far as California, carried by refrigerated trucks, to pollinate
almond crops. The apiary also ships bees to mid-Atlantic area fields to
pollinate cucumbers, watermelons and apples.

Maryland only has three large commercial beekeepers such as the Hays family.
The majority of Maryland's 1,312 registered beekeepers are hobbyists with a
colony or two in the backyard, and they're more susceptible to bad weather.

"I had about 80 percent losses over the winter," said Carl Kahkones, owner
of 35 hives at South Mountain Apiaries in Boonsboro. Kahkones is a
small-scale honey producer and sells to farmers' markets ...

Source: June 13, 2007 AP story on STLToday.com the internet publication of
the St Louis Post Dispatch Newspaper.

Web site: The STLToday.com June 13, 2007 story is posted at
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HONEYBEE_DIE_OFF?SITE=MOSTP
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HONEYBEE_DIE_OFF?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=
HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT> &SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Contact: Maryland State Apiary Inspector, Jerry Fischer, may be reached at
410 841 5920; e-mail: FischerJE at MdA.State.Md.us

Prepared by: This message was distributed by Jack Cooper, who may be reached
at e-mail: jlc at fien.com or 301-384-8287

This article (#1409) was distributed by e-mail on Jun 14, 2007 to those
whose names are on the FIEN, LLC Subject Matter Distribution Lists for
Agricultural Research, Crop Protection, Risk Assessment and Communication

end


The above information was sent to you by:

Jack Cooper

Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC (FIEN, LLC) - see
http://www.fien.com <http://www.fien.com/>  - FIEN, LLC is a regulatory and
policy e-mail update service for the agriculture and food industry which is
operated as a partnership by:

Jack L. Cooper
Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC
33 Falling Creek Court, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904
Phone: 301 384 8287 --- E- Mail: JLC at fien.com
and
Cindy Roberts
Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC
1464 Harvard St. NW, Suite 14
Washington, DC 20009-4610
Phone: 202 669 6951 --- E-Mail: CAR at fien.com



Laurie Davies Adams
Executive Director
Coeovlution Institute
425 Washington Street, 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
415 362 1137 (p)
415 362 3070 (f)
LDA at coevolution.org
www.coevolution.org
www.nappc.org
www.pollinator.org


Bee Ready for Pollinator Week - June 24-30



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