Subject: Where are the bees?

From: [email-masked] (Andy Nachbaur)
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 08:11:00 GMT

<quotes>

<>Date:         Tue, 21 Feb 1995 18:12:31 -0800
<>From: "Paul Cronshaw, D.C." <[email-masked]>
<>Subject:      Where are the bees?

<>Recent rains in Southern Calif and a mid spring have prompted local
<>fruit trees to begin blossoming.  But there is something missing -
<>Bees.

Hello Paul,

The bees will soon be back, they are all up in central California
doing their duty in the almonds.

<>I have been monitoring the neighborhood blossom for our friendly
<>pollinators but there are very few if any. And I was hoping to get a
<>bumper crop of apricots this year. :(

Bee's will work apricots, but as they produce a nectar with very little
sugar it is not uncommon not to find many bees working them if there
is anything else in bloom. Not sure what area your are in, but with
all the rain and warm weather I am sure there are many other flowers
for bees besides the apricots. Check the blue gum trees or the wild
mustard fields if you have any near by and see if the bees are all
working there.

<>I have been keeping bees for over 20 years and NEVER seen anything
<>like this. Has anyone else noticed this in their neighborhood.

Yes, it has been reported by others, but some reduction in bee
population is a natural function of pasture. If the pasture is poor
as in an extended drought like California has experienced for the
last few years you would expect to see fewer successful feral hives.

<>I'm afraid that with the lack of pollination from local feral hives
<>will eventually cause a raise in the food prices.

Well, if all you ate was almonds, then you should worry. Most of
California agriculture is not dependent on bees other then to produce
seed. California had NO Honey Bee's before the mid 1800's and with
few notable exception, (Donner Party), no reports of any mass
starvation in non beekeepers. Good news, apricots do well without
honey bees in most areas and in fact most apricot growers don't
appreciate any help from honey bees as with large sets comes high
thinning costs as small size fruit does not pay the cost of picking.
Without laws to protect bees from pesticides apricot growers would
do a job on them to keep them from trespassing in their orchards and
in the past many did just that..

<>Does this mean that Varroa or other diseases are having that much of
<>effect on the bee population? or is beekeeping dying as a hobby?

No beekeeping as a hobby should thrive. Hobbyists with a little
experience take as good or better care of their bees then us old
commercial beekeepers as we can only put back what the bees make and
in bad times that is not much. I do expect a dramatic reduction in
commercial beekeepers in the next few years if the economics don't
improve. There is something out there that is taking a horrible tole
on bees, and Vampire mites are the popular suspect, I suspect if we
had no Vampire mites it would be something else, but losses are real to
those who are experiencing them. And if you don't protect your bees
with Apistan and they die then you will wish you had protected them.

<>I read on this bee-list about resistence to Apistan (just like
<>antibiotics in humans).  Are there any alternatives to APistan or
<>being developed?

True, there has been antidotal reports from beekeepers in California
that say the same thing for over a year. Is it true? I am inclined to
believe NOT YET in general, but I would expect that it will be. My
reasoning is: From day one the active chemical in Apistan strips did
not kill 100% of the mites, leaving a residue population as an ideal
reservoir for building resistance stock. Another factor could be the
manufacture of the strips has reduced the amount of active material as
beekeepers were able to use the strips several times killing repeat
sales. And then there are the beekeepers who leave the strips in over
winter or all year around.

<>How about releasing sterilized adult Varroa to stop the life cycle for
<>awhile?

How about it? A better question who would pay for it? A few years back
there was a chance for beekeepers to get sterilized wax moths started,
when wax moths were one of our major problems, and because of the lack
of people willing to pay a small price to rid their bee hives of wax
moths we will never know if it really would have worked.

<>Hoping to see some more bee activity on my fruit trees soon...

I would bet you will get a good crop of fruit if you can protect it
from the hungry birds.
                            ttul Andy-

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