[Pollinator] Honey Bees making a comeback in California

Wed Apr 13 11:49:32 PDT 2011

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL

Honeybees making a comeback in California

Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff <mailto:kzito at sfchronicle.com>  Writer

Monday, April 11, 2011

<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.D
TL&o=0&type=printable> Beekeeper Paulino Dustamante prepares a commercial
shipme...
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.D
TL&o=1&type=printable> Queen bees are marked before shipping, so that they
can b...
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.D
TL&o=2&type=printable> Tom Parisian, owner of Honey Bee Genetics holds
several b...
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.D
TL&o=3&type=printable> A rogue honeybee climbs through a sea of queen bees
in en... 

After tumbling to a 23-year low in 2007, California's commercial honeybee
population seems to be on the rebound - though a mysterious and deadly
epidemic persists in ravaging some colonies.

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 California and the United States.

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). 

"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."

The number of honeybee colonies in California 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
California crops, including melons, sunflowers, carrots, cauliflower and
almonds, rely on bee pollination.

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.

Count considered low

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
California colonies at 500,000 to 550,000. 

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.

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.

"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."

Cyclical die-offs

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 United States 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.

Colony collapse disorder - first described in 2006 by a Pennsylvania
beekeeper who lost most of his bees after trucking his hives to Florida 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
California and the United States, 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.

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.

Almonds need bees

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.

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 United States. Beekeepers charged between $140 and $165 per
hive this almond season, Pendell said; one acre typically requires two hives
for pollination.

Tom Parisian, who tends 3,500 colonies in Vacaville, has changed the way he
rents bees to almond farmers after colony collapse disorder claimed about
half of his bees in 2008.

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.

Parisian also supplements his bees' diet with syrup to boost protein levels
and treats the colonies with anti-viral medicine.

"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."

Still, no cure for the disorder exists, and Mussen continues to hear from
beekeepers who lose half of a colony seemingly overnight.

E-mail Kelly Zito at kzito at sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/11/MN971IRGIA.DTL

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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