Honeybee die-off could be serious

By Bev Johnson | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, June 16, 2007

Should we be having panic attacks about the honey bee die off? Well, maybe. There is nothing normal about this die off.

It was first reported in the fall of 2006, when bee keepers in 27 states reported a serious decline in honeybees. Similar declines were being noticed in Europe and Canada. Honeybees are very big business. Bee pollination of agricultural crops provide up to 1/3 of our diet and are valued at $15 billion annually.

So what happens? The bees simply fly away from the hive and don't come back, leaving the queen and a few workers. These abandoned colonies are full of food and ordinarily, neighboring bees would steal the honey and pollen. However, they stay away, as do wax moths and hive beetles that would ordinarily clean out an abandoned hive.

One theory is that the fungus that either killed the bees or came later, is producing a toxin so repellent that the bees desert the hive. Or, parasitic mites are killing them and the mite killing chemicals are building up in the wax and killing bees.

Or its a fungus, or a virus, or chemicals sprayed on the various crops. No one really knows at this point.

An entomologist at the University of Minnesota, Maria Spivak, has been breeding honeybees that she calls hygienic bees. They have an enhanced sense of smell. They can smell the rotting odor of foulbrood and the yeasty odor of chalkbrood.

They can also detect the parasitic varroa mite in bee pupae. They are introduced into a hive where they kill affected pupae and sometimes eat them, before the diseases can infect the whole hive.

So why don't we just depend on wild bees. Mostly because they are specialists. Honeybees will go to any flower, wild bees to only 1 or 2. Another problem is that big farming has destroyed much of the wild bee’s habitat. They nest in underground tunnels or hollow twigs or dense shrubbery. In Canada, canola farmers leave 30 percent of their land wild habitat. They find they make more money than the farmers who plant all of their fields to crops.

So, what can gardeners do to help their bees? First, plant lots of flowering plants and shrubs. Don't use pesticides as they kill more pollinators than bad bugs.

You can also make bee blocks. Wood block with holes in them for bees to nest in. Or cut drinking straws in half, bundle them up and plant them in your flowering shrub. You may not want to put a bee home close to your door however. They do sting when excited.

This information is from an article in the latest “Discover” magazine.

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Bev Johnson is a master gardener for West Otter Tail County.