[Pollinator] NYTimes article on new honey bee report

[Emily May]

The original report, from the National Stakeholders Conference on Honey Bee
Health, can be found
here<http://www.usda.gov/documents/ReportHoneyBeeHealth.pdf>
.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/science/earth/government-study-cites-mix-of-factors-in-death-of-honeybees.html?hp

Government Study Cites Mix of Factors in Death of Honeybees

By John M. Broder

WASHINGTON — The devastation of American honeybee colonies is the result of
a complex stew of factors, including pesticides, parasites, poor nutrition
and a lack of genetic diversity, according to a comprehensive federal study
published on Thursday. The problems affect pollination of American
agricultural products worth tens of billions of dollars a year.

The report does not place more weight on one factor over another, and
recommends a range of actions and further research.

Honeybees are used to pollinate hundreds of crops, from almonds to
strawberries to soybeans. Since 2006, millions of bees have been dying in a
phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder. The cause or causes have been
the subject of much study and speculation.

The federal report appears the same week that European officials took steps
toward banning a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, derived from
nicotine, that they consider a critical factor in the mass deaths of bees
there.

But officials in the United States Department of Agriculture, the
Environmental Protection Agency and others involved in the bee study said
that there was not enough evidence to support a ban on one group of
pesticides, and that the costs of such action might exceed the benefits.

“At E.P.A. we let science drive the outcome of decision making,” said Jim
Jones, the agency’s acting assistant administrator for chemical safety and
pollution prevention. “There are non-trivial costs to society if we get
this wrong. There are meaningful benefits from these pesticides to farmers
and to consumers, as well as for affordable food.”

May R. Berenbaum, head of the department of entomology at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a participant in the study, said that
examination of dead bees had found residues of more than 100 chemicals,
insecticides and pesticides, including some used to control parasites in
bee hives.

Like Mr. Jones, she rejected the idea of an immediate ban on the use of
neonicotinoids or any other single pesticide.

“It’s not a simple matter of just removing pesticides,” she said in a
conference call for reporters Thursday. “It is difficult to predict the
effect of removing one of 100 different contaminants.”

“There is no quick fix,” she said. “Patching one hole in a boat that leaks
everywhere is not going to keep it from sinking.”

One of the most fatal afflictions in bee colonies is the parasitic mite
Varroa destructor, which infests beehives and is thought to be responsible
for numerous die-offs. Another factor is the planting of vast areas in a
single crop such as corn, limiting the forage supplies for bees.

Zac Browning, a fourth-generation commercial beekeeper who operates more
than 20,000 hives for honey production and pollination in California, Idaho
and North Dakota, said the solution to the bee crisis will require a broad
approach and many players.

He said that the supply of bees is falling short of the need, citing
difficulty rounding up enough bees to pollinate the winter almond crop in
California and blueberry bushes in Maine this spring.

“We’re on the brink,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ve crossed that
threshold yet, but we’re getting there fast.”


--
Emily May
Department of Entomology
Michigan State University
202 Center for Integrated Plant Systems
East Lansing, MI 48824
Lab: 517-432-9554
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