Bees’ vanishing act still a mystery

The population of bees, which pollinate a full one-third of the plants which feed us, are still in trouble and they have been very much in the news.
The USDA has launched a 13-state survey of honey bee pests and diseases conducted cooperatively by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and Pennsylvania State University.
The survey will help USDA scientists to determine the prevalence of parasites and disease-causing microorganisms that may be contributing to the decline of honey bee colonies nationwide.
The survey will take place in 350 apiaries in Alabama, California, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Outside of those states, entomologists from Maryland and New Jersey have been assisting Penn State in its studies.
Then, also in advance of National Pollinators Week, which was June 21-27, members of both parties of the U.S. House of Representatives — as if they did not have enough to do — announced the formation of the first Congressional Pollinator Protection Caucus  urging colleagues to join them in preserving pollinators.
“With one out of every third bite of food we humans consume dependent on bees and other animals for their pollination services, legislators need accurate information to help inform their positions,” said Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla.
The congressional effort, lawmakers said, “aims to support legislators’ understanding of the needs of their constituents with respect to pollinators ... and to ensure that this issue gets the attention it deserves.”
Despite the politicking, the bottom line is this: Beekeeping is an essential component of modern U.S. agriculture, providing pollination services for more than 90 commercial crops and adding $15 billion in value.
Since the 1980s, however, a number of factors have contributed to the declining health of U.S. honey bee colonies.
These include the introduction of several honey bee pests into the United States, such as the small hive beetle, which can damage honey comb, stored honey and pollen, as well as deadly bee parasites such as the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi) and single-celled gut parasite Nosema ceranae.
In addition, beekeepers began to report in 2006 a new threat to honey bee health that scientists have named Colony Collapse Disorder.
In colonies exhibiting CCD, adult bees leave the hive and never return, abandoning the queen and eggs.
APHIS, ARS, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and a number of other organizations have formed a CCD working group, which is researching the possible causal agents of CCD.
That is a very serious and on-going research effort involving some of the best entomological minds in the country and all of agriculture eagerly awaits their findings.