National honeybee crisis worries local beekeepers

Honeybees, whose pollination efforts are essential to one-third of the human food supply, are dying by the millions across the United States and scientists have no idea why. Bee researchers are investigating the reasons for the rapidly-decreasing insect population, which could cost the economy billions of dollars.

Junior Ben Cramer, a recreational beekeeper, said many colonies are being discovered which seem to have every bee pathogen known to scientists.

"Everything is dying," Cramer said. "Everything is leaving, everything is acting weird."

Dewey Caron is an entomology and wildlife ecology professor and bee researcher who raises colonies on campus. Caron said without bees to pollinate crops, a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables cannot germinate and grow.

If Delaware's agricultural supply crashes, the price on most produce would increase dramatically, he said.

There are many possible reasons for the decimation of the honeybee population. Unlike most epidemics with one major cause, honeybees are being hit from every direction by numerous catastrophes which are sweeping across the nation and into the town of Newark, Caron said.

He said most students do not think about agriculture's impact on their daily lives.

"They think milk comes from a store and fruit from a fruit stand," Caron said. "Most don't make the connection."

Warren Seaver, one of Delaware's largest commercial beekeepers, said scientists and beekeepers gathered in Georgetown in March to meet with Dr. Dave Tarpy, an expert from North Carolina State University, to discuss the nation's bee crisis.

The newest mystery these scientists discussed was Colony Collapse Disorder, Seaver said.

As a result of CCD, thousands of honeybees have disappeared, he said. One morning, a beekeeper has a bustling, thriving hive and the next morning, the entire hive vanishes except for a queen and a few bees which are not enough to sustain the colony.

"Just gone, no bodies," Seaver said. "Nothing."

Caron said the cause of CCD and how it spreads is unknown. Many scientists speculate the cause is malnutrition because modern agriculture may not give hives the healthy, diverse mixture of the 44 pounds of pollen it needs each day.

Beekeepers have tried so hard to fight previous bee catastrophes that the keepers themselves may have caused the demise of their hives, he said.

Cramer said the most dreaded catastrophe affecting bee hives are Varroa mites. These mites drop off the bee and suck the blood from the larva.

"With a scientific name like Varroa destructor, you know it can't be good," he said.

If beekeepers do not notice the mites early enough, the parasites will destroy the colony, Cramer said. Numerous beekeepers have misused pesticides in an attempt to destroy the mites and as a result decimated their bees immune systems.

Seaver said he is worried about Africanized killer bees. This type of honeybee produces less honey, develops faster and quickly infiltrates European honeybee colonies.

"The killer bee genes take over," he said.

Killer bees are aggressive, easily agitated and harder to manage, Seaver said. They are quickly approaching Newark and could cause a liability for beekeepers when they arrive.

Cramer said there are many other catastrophes killing off honeybees such as bee STDs and the incurable American Foulbrood Disease, a deadly virus.

Caron said one thing is for sure - all these problems are additive and "may very well nail the coffin for some beekeepers."

Others, like Cramer, remain optimistic.

"Honey prices are huge," he said. "I'm selling honey at five or six dollars a pound. Its awesome."

Seaver said, however, beekeepers do not make their living on honey sales, but by renting their bees out to farmers for pollination service.

The demand for beekeepers has never been higher, he said. Old beekeepers are retiring and others are going out of business, allowing some keepers, like himself, to continue to make a living - at least for the moment.

Caron said the best solution for the bee problem is conservation. Once the European honeybee population is eradicated, farmers will have to rely on natural pollinators, which were widespread before farmland removed their habitat.

Buffer zones of native, wild habitats adjacent to farmland would provide a constant supply of natural pollinators such as bumble bees, beetles and predators of pests, he said.

Without immediate action to save the honeybees or radically transform agricultural pollination, Delaware's most thriving crops may collapse, Caron said.

"Is one-third of our diet important," he said. "Can we throw that out?

"If tomatoes cannot be grown here, then possibly an expensive replacement can be imported."

But without bees, Caron said, Delaware agriculture may have a collapse disorder of its own.