Honey Bee CCD - Colony Collapse

[stevo]

There's been plenty of talk for a while about the reducing population of Honey Bees around the world, mainly America. They've lost 30% of their hives for the 3rd? year straight.

According to the article below it's mainly pesticides that are the cause. The pesticides don't kill the bee but once the bees are exposed to the pesticides they can then get a parasite which kills them.

30 billion dollars worth of crops are pollinated by bees in the US!

quote:
The pollen was contaminated on average with nine different pesticides and fungicides though scientists discovered 21 agricultural chemicals in one sample. Scientists identified eight ag chemicals associated with increased risk of infection by the parasite.
Most disturbing, bees that ate pollen contaminated with fungicides were three times as likely to be infected by the parasite. Widely used, fungicides had been thought to be harmless for bees as they’re designed to kill fungus, not insects, on crops like apples.

“There’s growing evidence that fungicides may be affecting the bees on their own and I think what it highlights is a need to reassess how we label these agricultural chemicals,”

An article from July 2013:
https://qz.com/107970/scientists-discover-whats-killing-the-bees-and-its-worse-than-you-thought/

Here's a short video from a few years ago, a bit Amercianised...

 

[stevo]

Some more general info about pollination in Australia
https://honeybee.org.au/pdf/PollinationAwareFactSheet.pdf

November Newsletter from honeybee.org.au - has some chemical names
https://honeybee.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/November-2013.pdf

 

[Mark]

This is a really big deal and I remember watching a doco about how honey bees are dying out around the world.

They reckon it's a matter of time before the bee mite hits Australia. It will be devastating when it gets here and as usual authorities are slow to act or fund solutions.

The overuse of agricultural chemicals is a disgrace and more often than not they are used for fruit and veg vanity (keep produce looking pretty for supermarket shelf) rather than controlling a massive pest attack - they just use these toxic chemicals as a matter of course.

And we just can't blame the farmer here either because it's the neurotic consumers who demand picture perfect produce so it's them who need to change their expectations also.

Sorry... This subject really gets me going

 

[Mortein]

Up this end of the world we have Small Hive Beetle as well as Asian Honey Bee. The SHB will essentially slime out a hive due to the SHB lavae cycle and loves high humidity. The AHB has been fount to breed with the European honey bee which causes a reduction in productivety not to mention the AHB is known to carry the Varoa might in Asia but not here yet thank god. Given Varoa is in PNG it is a matter of time.
There a lot of other conditions the European Honey Bee can come down with as well. I have been keeping bees for 2 years now and I am still learning heaps.
The biggest thing I have learned about bee keeping is good management goes a long way to healthy hives.

This for me this means just looking at the entrance of the hives a few times a day to see what the coming and going of the bees is like at the very least.

 

[Mark]

Well that's really concerning... that hive beetle must be such a pain to control. Quite frankly it's the increasing pest management of honey bees that has put me off getting into it. Everyone I know with bees is having issues with that damn beetle!

I've seen the traps beekeepers use to keep the beetle out of the hive but why can't they invent a beetle proof hive?

If that mite gets here and they reckon it will we're stuffed! Honey will skyrocket in price and food crops will suffer. I'm writing a post on my blog atm about native bees and how we may have to rely on them more in the future.

 

[Mortein]

With SMB. I use three control messures at the same time. Fistly is a blue chux cloth between the brude box and the super. The SHB gets stuck in the fine fabric. You pretty much pick the chux up place it in a zip lock bag and place in a freezer for a day or fridge for a week which will kill the SHB then you can throw in the rubbish or burn. The second is diatomaceous earth. It gets placed in a trough that sits in between the frames in the super. The SHB will get chased in there by the bees and the diatomaceous earth lacerates the SHB killing them. The trough gets checked weekly. Then there is the Apithor Hive Beetle Harbourage Trap. I place one of these in the top of my super and the SHB is chased into it and is killed by the insecticide infused card board contained the the trap. This is my least favourite trap but works the best. They get replaced every 12 months. The only maintenance they need is some olive oil rubbed on the mouth of the entrance to stop the bees closing up the trap entrance. Oh there is one other control I use and that is to reduce the entrance to the hive down to a 2" gap. This allows the bees to better guard the entrance.
Having said all that I still get SHB but the damage to the hive is very minimal. These controls are still on top of your normal maintenance of the hive. Unfortunately gone are the days of having a hive and checking it every couple of months. For me to lose a hive it costs around $300-$350 to replace. I did lose 2 in a matter of weeks to SHB when I first starting bee keeping. It was a costly lesson to learn.

 

[Mark]

Ok, well I guess that doesn't sound too bad then. I've seen the chux in use (I think I've a pic somewhere on my blog).

Wouldn't diatomaceous earth be a little dangerous around the bees or can't the bees get access - doesn't DE kill all insects? Also, do you find DE effective because I haven't read any conclusive evidence that DE really works as good as they say? My local supplier reckons DE is not that great as parasite control for chickens but bees might be totally different... I haven't tried it for any reason TBH so I can't talk from experience.

 

[Mortein]

The DE I use has no insecticide. Sorry I should have stipulated that. The bee can't gain entry into the trough only the SHB. I find 1-2 each time I check it. I don't think any one method will ever control SHB. I keep intouch with the Bee Keapers up this way via email and we share what each other is doing to manage SHB. Every time someone comes up with a new control for SHB it is shouted out to the world that it will get rid of them. Generally it turns out to be another tool in the tool box of SHB management.

The other thing about what I use and why I use them is they are the cheapest and pretty effective tools for the price. The tools used change depending on the scale of honey production as well. e.i commercial verses back yarder.

 

[stevo]

A little update from Australia about Colony Collapse....

"Australian scientists may have solved the mystery of bee colony collapse"
"
It is well known that honey bees delay leaving their hive to forage until later in adulthood. Foraging for nectar and pollen is hard work, and bees frequently die from exhaustion or getting lost.
But if external stressors such as pests or pesticides kill too many forager bees at once, it triggers a rapid maturation of the next generation and prompts them to leave the nest before they're are ready."

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/te...y-of-bee-colony-collapse-20150209-13a6ss.html

 

[Mark]

I'm often terrified about pesticide drift from the strawberry farm down the road and the effect it has or could have on our bees in the area (native and honey). This report seems to confirm the obvious I guess... STOP the indiscriminate use of PESTICIDES

 

[bearded1]

I'm often terrified about pesticide drift from the strawberry farm down the road and the effect it has or could have on our bees in the area (native and honey). This report seems to confirm the obvious I guess... STOP the indiscriminate use of PESTICIDES

It would be great if we would/could stop using pesticides indiscriminately, but farmers would not be able to make a profit in the current market. we've probably all heard the stories of the big supermarkets screwing farmers down over price and the other week I was at a work conference talking to a woman who runs a farm with her husband. She told me that they get between 20 cents and 50 cents per avocado (50 cents is very rare) with the average being 28 cents while the supermarkets sell them for $1.80 -$4.75 (average around 2.50). She and hubby have tried to go organic, but the extra work and cost of organic fertiliser and pesticide makes it unprofitable. Last year, they got a large cheque for their season and she thought it would be a great year, but when they went to the accountant and he calculated all the costs, they were left with $700 dollars.
There needs to be a shift from paying farmers such low prices and supermarkets making rude profits. Bob Katter has a great policy on this: -Make the supermarkets display what the farmer was paid for produce beside the retail price. I think it would shame or embarrass them into being fairer and if it didn't at least people could make better choices when selecting produce and deciding where to shop.

 

[Mark]

She told me that they get between 20 cents and 50 cents per avocado (50 cents is very rare) with the average being 28 cents while the supermarkets sell them for $1.80 -$4.75 (average around 2.50).

That's just disgusting and I'm fed up with the supermarkets choosing certain line items and making them luxury in order to drop prices in other areas to make it seem like overall prices are better when in fact they are NOT.

Prices for supermarket avocadoes this whole season have been consistently $2.98 in our area but it makes me wonder if the farmer you are talking about sold independently at the markets they could double their profit. I know it's not always that simple; however for arguments sake, if they produced 1000 avocadoes and sold them for $1.50 at the markets they'd be better off than they are now...

You'd think they could do that organically allowing for the expected losses and still earn more money than the current way at the same time limiting bee death on their farm.

We need to start thinking out of the box when it comes to traditional markets and farming IMHO.

 

[bearded1]

You'd think they could do that organically allowing for the expected losses and still earn more money than the current way at the same time limiting bee death on their farm.

It's not just the insecticides that are the issue. One of the major factors in producing good organic produce is the health of the soil which is basically the ecosystem of the soil. If your soil is very healthy ie. right nutrients in the right amounts; right number of bacteria of the right type; ph levels ok; right amount of water and organic material etc, all working together you can produce good crops at a reasonable price. The problem is that to get this right takes a lot of time, effort and money. Most farmers have big loans to pay back so this is not feasible. I think that self-sustainability is a big part of the answer, hence my efforts to become self-sustaining. Organic produce will always be dearer to produce, so Jo Blow will not buy it, unless they are educated as to why this is important.

 

[Mark]

Insecticides are the issue for bees though (which is the crux of this discussion) but I totally agree with you on soil and other factors being very important for producing organic food overall.