[Pollinator] Honeybee population isn't ‘crashing’ and seed pesticides are not driving health problems—and here’s why

[Gene Brandi]

Hello Carrie:

You are absolutely correct that this article is misleading to say the 
least.   While it is true that the nation's managed honey bee colony 
numbers appear to be holding steady, this article is quoting National Ag 
Statistic Service peak season colony numbers and minimizes the extent of 
the losses that occur throughout the year and especially during the 
winter.  Winter colony losses have averaged nearly 30% over the past 12 
years and annual losses have often exceeded 40%.  I know many beekeepers 
who suffered losses in excess of 50% this past winter so things are 
definitely not OK with the nation's bees.  It is only due to the hard 
work and dedication of beekeepers, who rebuild and restock their dead 
and dying bee colonies every year, that peak season colony numbers have 
been able to rebound.

The bee breeding industry has a difficult time keeping up with the 
demand for queen bees, especially in the spring when beekeepers try to 
restock the colonies that died over the winter.  My son and I manage 
approximately 2,000 colonies during peak season and we purchase between 
1,400 and 1,600 queens annually to rebuild our operation to that level 
each year.  During the past 12 years we have lost between 13 and 45% of 
our colonies over the winter, and of course many more during the 
season.  While beekeeping has never been easy, it is certainly much more 
difficult to keep bees alive and healthy today than it was when I began 
keeping bees in the 1970's, and the article does not address this in a 
substantive manner.

While Colony Collapse Disorder was popularized by the media in 2006, the 
first year our industry suffered a major collapse and there were not 
enough colonies to pollinate the almonds here in California was 2004.  
One major indicator of the problems that still exist in our industry is 
that honey production in the USA since the early 2000's has been 
dramatically lower than the historical average prior to that time. 
During the 1970's, 80's, and 90's domestic honey production regularly 
exceeded 200 million pounds annually, often 230 million pounds or more.  
Since 2001, US honey production has fluctuated between approximately 140 
million pounds and 170 million pounds with 2017 production reported at 
148 million pounds.  Changes in the landscape which have reduced 
available forage account for some of the decrease, but the reduced 
health and strength of our colonies is a larger factor in my opinion.  
When colonies are "split" in order to restock dead hives, they are 
weakened and are often not strong enough to produce a honey crop until 
they rebuild their populations, in many cases after the honey flow is over.

Pesticide exposure, varroa mites, poor nutrition (from lack of adequate 
uncontaminated floral resources), and certain diseases continue to 
plague our bees.  To place pesticides as number eleven in the top ten 
list of what's killing honey bees is a statement that is not based on 
reality.  From my own experience it is not only neonics and other toxic 
pesticides but a variety of other products, including fungicides, Insect 
Growth Regulators, and even certain adjuvants that are impacting the 
health of our bees and their colonies.  Many of these same products are 
very likely impacting the health of non apis pollinators as well.

Thanks for pointing out the fact that you can drive a truck through some 
of the erroneous assertions in the article!

Gene Brandi


Gene Brandi, Past President
American Beekeeping Federation
Los Banos, CA <tel:209-826-2881><tel:209-826-1881><tel:209-769-0501>


<tel:209-826-2881><tel:209-826-1881><tel:209-769-0501>




On 4/17/18 10:02 AM, Carrie McLaughlin wrote:
> Hello, yall!
>
> Has anyone else seen this?!!
>
> https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/04/17/honeybee-population-isnt-crashing-and-seed-pesticides-are-not-driving-health-problems-and-heres-why/?mc_cid=65f15394bb&mc_eid=0895ad7247
>
> The holes in Entine's and Burgett's assertions are so big that you can 
> drive a truck through them. And to entirely ignore the wild pollinator 
> populations, as well as the recent research on honey bee 
> health/functions and pesticides, is just flat out irresponsible.
>
> Anyone who is a science writer/researcher with a national or 
> international reach want to directly address this?
>
> Warm regards,
> Carrie
>
>
> Carrie McLaughlin
> TEXAS POLLINATOR POWWOW,  Coordinator
> https://www.facebook.com/texaspollinatorpowwow 
> <https://www.facebook.com/texaspollinatorpowwow>
> http://www.texaspollinatorpowwow.org/ 
> <http://www.texaspollinatorpowwow.org/>
> carrie at texaspollinatorpowwow.org <mailto:carrie at texaspollinatorpowwow.org>
>
>
>
>
>
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