By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent ST. CHARLES, Mich. — The mysterious deaths of honeybees in 24 states across the country including Michigan have industry officials buzzing about the potential threat to spring fruit and vegetable pollination.
“We’re in deep trouble,” said Terry Klein, vice president of the Michigan Beekeeper’s Assoc., who runs 900-1,000 hives per year from his St. Charles farm. “Without enough honeybees pollination won’t be complete.”
The problem, which is being referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder, has been around for at least two years, according to Klein. However, it’s unclear whether it has been killing honeybees for longer. “It kind of creeps up on you,” Klein said.
He said the problem with losing honeybees goes back 10 years when the tracheal mite became problematic.
“We got that under control and then found the varroa mite,” he said.
Klein, who has been in the business for 30 years, said he is expecting to realize a 70-80 percent loss in his hives this year.
While the industry as a whole is not certain what is causing the honeybees to die, Klein said the pattern is similar to the tracheal mite, which kills all the bees in a hive.
He said that wintering bees has been a challenge for beekeepers who use the time to build their hives for spring pollination. “Since the two parasitic mites arrived they tend to shorten the life span of the bee,” Klein said. “Bees born in the late fall are supposed to live through until the spring and supply enough heat and food to get the hive re-established before they die.
“Right now we’re in the midst of terrible winter losses,” he said. “Up until now I’ve been fairly comfortable because we have been able to buy bees from the south or California to replace them. With this disappearing disease if the bees from those areas collapse we’re not going to be able to replace them.”
Klein said he lost the supplier in Alabama that he has purchased replacement bees from for the last 10 years.
“I’ve been scrambling, looking for bees,” he said. Klein has found another source and has ordered enough to rebuild his hives this year, but he isn’t excited about the cost – about $50,000.
“This is the fourth year in a row that we’ve lost 80-90 percent,” he said. “It’s a big investment to make every year.
David Anthony a beekeeper from Swartz Creek who is president of the association, said the industry is still safe, but it won’t be able to withstand honeybee losses for much longer.
“We aren’t 100 percent out of control. We can still rebuild,” Anthony said. “But if this goes on for another year of so and we can’t figure out what causes it, we’re not going to be able to get bee replacements.
“Without being able to replace the bees, pollination will cease and it will begin to affect our food crops,” he said.
In Michigan, honeybees are used to pollinate blueberries, apples, cherries, cucumbers and other fruit and vegetable crops.
“You’re talking 80 to 90 percent of pollination comes from honeybees,” Anthony said. “Without pollination you won’t have crops,” he said.
In California, Anthony said, pollinating the almond crop is “big business. It can take two-thirds of all the honeybees in the United States to pollinate those trees.”
Pollination takes 10-15 days for each location. The most immediate concern, according to Klein, is blueberry pollination because it’s the first crop to be pollinated and needs two to five colonies per acre.
“Many growers struggled to find enough bees last year,” he said.
That’s one reason that Klein and Anthony both are encouraging people to take up beekeeping.
“We’re working to get more hobbyists involved,” Klein said. “I think it’s important to spread out to increase our chances of survival stock to have something to work with down the line.” This farm news was published in the March 28, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
