Honeybee_ Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - C. Marina Marchese [9]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated that there are between 140,000 and 212,000 beekeepers in the United States. The majority are hobbyists with a few to several dozen hives. There are approximately 1,600 commercial beekeepers operating in the United States that produce 60 percent of the nation’s honey.
The demand for honeybees is increasing each year, but populations of managed hives have been declining from 3.5 million in 1989 to 2.3 million in 2008. This is a 34 percent decrease since the 1980s, when the Varroa mite was discovered in the United States. This reddish-brown parasite attaches to the honeybee during its metamorphosis inside the cell. While feeding on bee blood, the mite transmits bee viruses that weaken colonies and cause heavy losses each year. The Varroa mite is a serious threat to honey colonies and to the livelihood of the beekeepers who manage them.
Another major problem in the U.S. honeybee community was first reported by a commercial beekeeper in October 2006. It is known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). CCD is defined by a sudden disappearance of the adult bee population of a hive; in some cases only the queen, a few adult bees, and the brood remain behind. Commercial beekeepers began opening up their hives to find them empty and not a honeybee in sight. Commercial honeybee losses set beekeepers and farmers back, and the resulting financial losses have been devastating. As honeybee colonies dwindle and beekeepers cannot provide the honeybees needed to pollinate crops, farmers’ food production drops; consumers, in turn, do not have as much fresh produce and other foods for their tables, and the prices of available produce increase.
Beekeepers and scientists are baffled by the causes of this new disorder. Some of the many theories regarding CCD say it was brought on by poor honeybee health and overstressed, overworked bees. Pathogens, parasites, and pesticides are also considered to be possible causes. Others say CCD losses are due to insecticides—specifically new chemicals called neonicotinoids. Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and France do not allow this product to be used, since reports link it to massive honeybee losses. The overuse of many other chemicals and antibiotics are also found to compromise the immune systems of the honeybee.
There are many ongoing efforts to breed a hygienic or nearly perfect honeybee that will have the qualities to withstand diseases, pests, and pesticides. But until those efforts are successful, the declining bee population stemming from CCD and increased cost of maintaining honeybees only add to the difficulties commercial beekeepers already face. For example, the unfair practice of shipping inferior-quality and counterfeit honey, that may not actually be pure, from countries like Canada, Argentina, Australia, and China. In 2008, major retailers and commercial users of honey purchased tons of Chinese honey for $0.20 per pound, while it cost domestic beekeepers around $1.00 per pound to make their honey. Who can compete with that?
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MUCH OF THIS INFORMATION, including the details of pollination, the vital role honeybees play in U.S agriculture, and the challenges commercial beekeepers face has been imparted to me over the years by speakers at the BYBA meetings. I had no idea how much the honeybees had to offer humans and the planet. During the lecture I heard at my first meeting, I jotted down notes about pollination, along with a few doodles of flowers and honeybees. A recurring sketch was a queen bee wearing a crown and holding a scepter; her attendants glided around her and their hive. These would be the first of many drawings and notes I would include in my bee journal.
A woman to my left glanced over at my doodles. We exchanged smiles, and after the guest speaker’s talk, she introduced herself as Mary. I told her I was an illustrator turned beekeeper; she said she was an accountant turned beekeeper. We both laughed at finding another soul disenchanted with her nine-to-five job. Mary told me she had been keeping bees for three years and still