Local beekeepers struggle with vanishing bees

Honeybees pollinate more than $15 billion worth of crops annually in the U.S.

By Gretchen Mahan

Published Sept. 8, 2008

Beekeepers around the world are keeping their fingers crossed for a good harvest of honey this season after a sudden decline in the bee population in the past two years.

A year ago this month, a report published in Science Express stated that between 50 and 90 percent of U.S. bee colonies were lost to colony collapse disorder, a newly identified phenomenon in which the bees in a colony suddenly disappear.

Many researchers and agricultural experts have speculated on what triggers CCD. These speculations include pesticides, parasites, overcrowding of the colonies and a variety of other sources.

Last year, scientists found a link between Israel Acute Paralysis Virus and CCD. According the U.S. Department of Agriculture, IAPV was found in 96.1 percent of CCD-bee samples. IAPV is transmitted through the varroa mite. It remains unknown if IAPV is the cause of CCD.

"At the moment it seems like it's a whole number of factors that are playing into it," said Collin Wamsley, a state entomologist for the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

Although more research has been put into CCD in recent years, it appears that little definitive progress has been made on solving the problem since the decline in the population was recognized in 2006.

"This is the third season we're going into, and we don't know any more than when we started," said Vera Gelder, owner and general manager of Walk About Acres, a family-owned farm in Columbia that is home to a variety of exotic wildlife. Far from a commercial operation, the farm gives tours to groups, mainly school children, around their land.

Art Gelder, Vera's husband and the main caretaker of the farm, said that on one occasion, he went out to check on a colony, and it appeared to be in perfect health. Two weeks later, he went out to the colony again, and it was empty.

"There wasn't a bee in it," Art Gelder said. "It's pretty disheartening when that happens."

During the 2007 season, the Gelders lost over half of their 84 honeybee colonies.

The loss of these bees affects not only the beekeepers, but also plant and animal life - including humans - in the region because of the enormous impact honeybees have on food sources.

"A lot of our food crops depend on bee pollination," Wamsley said.

According to a study conducted by the Agricultural Research Service in 2005, honeybees pollinate more than $15 billion worth of crops annually in the U.S.

Many honeybee keepers like the Gelders attempt to cut down on their use of pesticides because of the negative effects they could have on the bees. In his greenhouses, Art Gelder uses organic pesticides, like BioGuard, as well as soap and oil spray rather than chemical pesticides.

Even with all these precautionary measures, beekeepers cannot be certain their bees haven't been exposed to pesticides. Because of this, the honey produced from Walk About Acres is not a certified organic product.

"There's virtually no way you can have organic honey," Art Gelder said, adding that bees will travel three to five miles to gather pollen for their hive. So even if a farmer does not use pesticides on his land, his neighbor might, causing the honey produced to be non-organic.

But even with all the difficulties, beekeepers are using innovative thinking to create newly demanded products. Walk About Acres creates honey, beeswax candles, honey ice cream and many other products, which they sell weekly at the Columbia Farmers Market.

This year, CCD appears to be less severe than last year, but it isn't known if the decline in bees was only temporary. Art Gelder said he has lost about 12 hives or about a fifth of all his colonies this year to CCD, whereas last year, he had lost almost one-quarter by this time of the year.

"I'm just cringing that we'll have enough honey," he said about this year's harvest.

Richard Houseman, MU plant sciences professor, said the real danger is not the existence of the bees.

"The real question is whether beekeepers are going to go extinct or not, because it's very expensive to replace those colonies," he said.