The Fall and Rise of The Honey Bee

By Peter Loring Borst

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Who invented electronic digital communication?

A. Bill Gates - 1970

B. Al Gore - 1950

C. Samuel Morse - 1836

1975

1988

2014

Honey Bees

in Decline

1947

That the bee population of the United States has been on the

decline for several years is common knowledge to beekeepers.

The public however, has not been made aware of how important

this decline is. Nor have the implications been brought in to

sharp focus.

1974

1974

“This isn’t something sudden.

It’s been happening for years,”

Harbo said. “We’re not going to

run out of bees.

I don’t think there’s anything to

worry about.”

The real magnitude of pollinator

declines is not easily

determined.

Accurate measurements are

essential for any meaningful

assessment of decline.

Source: Randy Oliver

scientificbeekeeping.com

Estimated numbers of managed bee hives in the U.S.

over the long term. The peak was reached near the

end of WWII, during which farmers were encouraged

by the government to keep bees.

Since 1961 the reported global stock of commercial managed honey bee hives has increased by approximately 45 per

cent

FAO STATS ON WORLD BEEKEEPING

Countries with more than one million managed hives

The estimate of the number of

wild colonies in Africa is 310 million.

Additionally, it was estimated in 1990 

that Africanized bees made up hundreds of

million colonies in Latin America.

The total wild colonies is probably

well over 500 million worldwide.

Colony

Losses

1921

1947

Wintering colonies in proper condition with an

abundance of young bees, plenty of stores, plenty

of pollen reserves and reasonable protection. All

other colonies are removed before the winter

period begins.

This will decrease the winter loss, but it will

increase the number of hives that are empty. From

our own experience we find thirty-five out of one

hundred hives are empty each spring from all

causes and must be replaced one way or another.

So we admit frankly that, in our own practice,

we do not fool with queenless colonies, drone

laying colonies, poor honey producing colonies,

with queens no longer tenable, and we do not

try to winter any colony which is not in the

very best possible shape for winter. Now, is

this good practice or bad practice?

Winter losses are usually estimated from the

number of colonies that fail to survive. These

losses average 15 percent, and they

sometimes reach 50 per cent.

Actual winter losses may be much greater,

because the surviving colonies are below the

optimum condition.

C. L. Farrar (1944)

‘Disappearing diseases’ similar to CCD have long been described in honey bees, and are apparently a recurring feature of domesticated honey bee

populations.  

Colonies of the domesticated honey bee have been in decline in the United States for sixty years. This

decline has been driven in part by economic forces, including the increased costs of disease management.

Nevertheless, honey bee colony losses in the U.S. have reached new highs in the past several years, exceeding 30% country-wide during the vulnerable

winter period.

Pathogen Webs in Collapsing Honey Bee Colonies, 2012

Disappearing

Disease

Disappearing Disease

THE DISEASE OF 1868. During the past season a disease suddenly appeared in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, sweeping away whole apiaries.

So quiet were its operations that the bee-keepers became aware of its existence only by the

disappearance of their bees.

The hives were left, in most cases, full of honey, but with no brood and little pollen; the whole

appearance of the hive causing the casual observer to suppose that the bees had

“emigrated;” but close observation showed that they had died.  

1966

Disappearing Disease During recent winters beekeepers in some parts of

California have been puzzled by what appears to be a rather rapid disappearance of bees from their hives. Strong

colonies heavy with honey and pollen, apparently at their prime for overwintering, suddenly start to decline for no apparent reason during autumn, and collapse within six

weeks.

The disorder is now officially known as “Autumn Collapse” but has also been called “disappearing disease” because no

sick or dead bees could be found in failing colonies. The disorder has caused loss of up to 90 per cent of the colonies in affected apiaries. Similar losses have occurred in parts of

Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and New Mexico. The disorder was first noticed during the winter of 1961-62.

1966

Disappearing Disease

Disappearing disease of honey bees has been observed by beekeepers in at least 27 states and in every

geographical region of the United States.

Inspectors describe occasions when adult worker bees disappeared during periods of cool, damp weather or

when an adult population failed to build up for no identifiable reason.

One large scale queen breeder and several commercial beekeepers indicated that they had experienced DD

and that in some cases large numbers of colonies were affected.

The

Marketplace

Despite attention given to pathogens,

parasites and pesticides, those factors may

not bear primary responsibility for the long-

term downward trend in the number of US

honey bee colonies which was underway well

before the arrival of parasitic mites and

problems with CCD.

Calderone, 2012

Parasitic Mites Introduced into U.S

The beekeeping industry has proven

remarkably resilient, replacing colonies that die

throughout the year in time for the next season.

This resiliency may be based on economic factors,

especially the price of honey and opportunities for

pollination contracts.

Economic opportunities may play a

greater role in explaining the

long-term trend than other factors.

Calderone, 2012

Border closed to US packages

To maintain its competitive position, the

beekeeping industry will need to develop a

sustainable, market-based system of bee

breeding and colony management that can

continue to provide an adequate and reliable

supply of high quality, healthy pollinators at

competitive prices.

Calderone, 2012

U. S. Fruit Production and Value

Almonds

A preliminary analysis of the data show that the

mortality rate over the 2013-14 winter varied

between countries, ranging from 6%

in Norway to 14 % in Portugal, and there

were also marked regional differences

within most countries.

The overall proportion of colonies lost was 9%, the

lowest since the international working group

started collecting data in 2007.

The Fall and Rise of The Honey Bee