Honeybee deaths reaching crisis point

by Paul Conneally | August 12, 2008 at 10:59 am

2691 views | 9 Recommendations | 57 comments

Honey bees are essential not for the honey that they provide us with but for the job they do in ensuring that fruit and vegetable crops are pollinated. In the UK the honeybee population is in crisis and noone seems to be able to agree on the cause. A wet 2007 and a build up of pathogens in the hives is one theory but it does not seem to be quite the same as the USA hive decimation caused by colony collapse disorder (CCD).

A major cause for concern has been the UK government's underinvestment in research into this something the industry has campaigned for over the last few years. The price of raw honey has risen more quickly than the price of crude oil - it's gone up 60% - honey shortages are predicted in the UK by Christmas.

The birds and the bees are essential to our environmental ballance and this includes the bees farmed by humans - over thousands of years our interelationship has been built into the complex agricultural and environmental relationship. The plight of the honeybee is more important than many realise as they take the humble bee for granted as just a producer of that sweet golden liquid honey.

Britain's honeybees have suffered catastrophic losses this year, according to a survey of the nation's beekeepers, contributing to a shortage of honey and putting at risk the pollination of fruits and vegetables.

The survey by the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) revealed that nearly one in three of the UK's 240,000 honeybee hives did not survive this winter and spring.

The losses are higher than the one in five colonies reported dead earlier this year by the government after 10% of hives had been inspected

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The Bee Tree (not verified)

at 13:19 on August 12th, 2008

Help the honeybees! Prevent the loss of the world food supply.

Learn how you can help cure Colony Collapse Disorder. What is the bee tree?
thebeetree(dot)org

Uwe Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 22:27 on August 12th, 2008

Emilio Lizardo

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:38 on August 13th, 2008

LotusFlower, I like this story. It's good stuff.

I have been following the disappearing bees story a few years now - looking into it, trying to get some answers and keep coming up dry ... if the research weenies know what's causing it, they aren't talking - which, of course has resulted in a lot of speculation -

The 'hypothetical reason' I like best is that our sun is getting a lot brighter, putting out more energy, which is in some way making the bees blind - an easy enough theory to test, but to my knowledge no official research study has been done on this ...

The reason this theory makes the most sense to me is that it 'lines up' with another fact we all know about - soaring skin cancer rates ... a 'hotter sun', kicking out more intense rays would explain that as well ...

Not to mention all the bleached out ocean coral, a major crisis in its own right ...

marto-marto

at 09:48 on August 13th, 2008

In relation to the Honeybee story i can say that i have deffinitely noticed a reduction in the numbers of flowers blooming over the past eighteen months or so and i have also noticed a reduction in the Honeybee and Bumblebee numbers around the Parks and Gardens in the Greater Dublin area .
I believe a contributing factor to this recent downturn is related to the heavy rainfall over this time .I have even seen bees drowned by the sudden downpours and also the flowers in bloom are being pelted with the rain and being discolored and knocked to the ground thus making it harder for the surviving bees to access to the pollen etc
and also not forgetting the seeds of the flowers getting washed away miles from their natural habitat

marto-marto has contributed a photo to this story.

dardilrocks

at 09:59 on August 13th, 2008

In the evening, while working as a security officer, I often take my Canon Powershot G9 with me on my foot patrol around my client's property. Criminals don't like to see it in my hands, but most insects just ignore it, as long as I don't make too many quick movements or get too close to their activity. This photograph was taken at a private residence in Tanglewood, an upscale subdivision in Houston, Harris County, Texas, at around 7:30 p.m. While honeybees were very scarce around Houston in the Spring, they seem to have bounced back and I have observed quite a few of them recently. (you can see many of my photographs on flickr.com, by searching in the "people" heading and using the name "dardilrocks")

dardilrocks has contributed a photo to this story.

a.hatch

at 10:03 on August 13th, 2008

Around here, in San Mateo, there doesn't seem to be a crisis, but I am sympathetic to this crisis and am happy to share the photos I took. Hope you enjoy them.

a.hatch has contributed a photo to this story.

a.hatch

at 10:06 on August 13th, 2008

Taken at the Rose Garden, Central Park, San Mateo, Califonia.

rmccharles

at 10:26 on August 13th, 2008

You can view the rest of my nature photos at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmccharles

rmccharles has contributed a photo to this story.

too_thickskinned

at 10:39 on August 13th, 2008

Haven't noticed a reduction in honeybee population here in Miami, but glad to share my photos.

See more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/2thickskinned

http://www.davidarranphoto.com

C0N6R355

at 10:51 on August 13th, 2008

Honeybees have been appearing less and less over the years here in New Hampshire. This is a rare one found on an oregano plant.

C0N6R355 has contributed a photo to this story.

blackxtibook

at 11:02 on August 13th, 2008

Bees are great!!

blackxtibook has contributed a photo to this story.

Andreas-photography

at 11:03 on August 13th, 2008

I plant shrubs and flowers to attract bees to my garden how ever this year i have noticed alot of young bees dying

Andreas-photography has contributed a photo to this story.

mimpy

at 11:15 on August 13th, 2008

This is a swarm that we rescued from our plum tree. The bees are very tame and we're not sure if they took off from our other hive here on the southern Oregon coast. Our big hive is doing very well.

mimpy has contributed a photo to this story.

Spangles44

at 11:28 on August 13th, 2008

Since I heard a story on 60 minutes about the declining population of the bees - they have totally fascinated me. I can watch them forever. We have many different types here in Germany. This bee was hanging around on a Hibiscus flower and I just loved looking at his furry rear end.

Spangles44 has contributed a photo to this story.

rdehaene

at 11:46 on August 13th, 2008

This picture was taken in a public garden whilst strolling.
I think these little creatures are magnificent not only to watch but for their contribution to nature and indeed I've noticed as well that there are less and less of them which will have major consequences. I was honored that my pictures was choosen;

rdehaene has contributed a photo to this story.

Jordan Yerman

at 11:57 on August 13th, 2008

A swarm of superb photos of one of nature's most photogenic insects. Thanks, all, for sharing.

(A roundup of previous NowPublic bee coverage here)

TheTempGuy

at 12:09 on August 13th, 2008

Nothing too special here... honeybees have short lifespans (8-12 weeks for the workers?) and the dead are dragged out and simply dropped off the front of the hive where they are eaten by other critters like yellowjackets, etc..

This is my from backyard hive that produces about 4 to 8 gallons of honey/year.

Carl

TheTempGuy has contributed a photo to this story.

miki_miska83

at 12:40 on August 13th, 2008

My photo was taken on pur garden.

MMATM

at 12:45 on August 13th, 2008

This tiny little bee is 3/8" long max. I'm guessing it's a honeybee, but I am no entemologist. It's gathering pollen from a globe gilia wildflower in my backyard in San Jose, CA. It was taken April 21, 2008 in the afternoon. From April to June we had a lot of these tiny bees along with huge carpenter bees that are still around. I haven't noticed any more of these tiny bees, but we don't have any more flowers for them now either. We do have yellow jackets now though.

Nice story LotusFlower, I'm happy to add with my photo. The photo may be used on this site for this article. Thank you.

MMATM has contributed a photo to this story.

CameraShyMom

at 12:53 on August 13th, 2008

I only know what I have heard in the news about the decline in our honeybees. I understand that it still remains a mystery. I still see plenty of them in my area. I hope they figure out the problem before it is to late. As of now, I am happy that I can still walk out my back door and see plenty of them hard at work everyday. This honeybee photo was taken in Underwood, IN by Pamela J. Morris.

CameraShyMom has contributed a photo to this story.

lol_grrl

at 13:20 on August 13th, 2008

I took the picture of a Bumble bee on a purple clover. I took it while walking through my families farm field early this summer. It wasn't mowed, tilled, or planted this year at all and attracted a lot of wildlife including but not limited to deer, hummingbirds, toads, ducks and cranes. Animals just need a place that isn't developed to live and thrive.

lol_grrl has contributed a photo to this story.

felix v abarca

at 13:40 on August 13th, 2008

California Central Valley, such as Los Banos, CA area which has some honeybee keepers has reported honeybee death issues and they expect that the problem could be trace to the spraying of chemicals, such as fertilizers use in the farms within the Agriculture area of Central California.

felix v abarca has contributed a photo to this story.

June Mita

at 13:48 on August 13th, 2008

I live in New England, in the United States. I took this photo last month, after a few weeks of very few bees. As of today, in August, I have so few bees that it is of grave concern. I have noticed a direct decline in my vegetable garden produce. I have barely any tomatoes, few peppers, and few cucumbers. I believe it is a direct result of the lack of bees. In all honesty, I believe this bee was part of a hive that a family down the road had purchased. They started with 4 hives. They are now down to only one. What ever is affecting the bees is also affecting crickets, mosquitos, butterflies, and even the common fly. Insects are rapidly declining in my area. I hope it is something that is happening naturally, not manmade. If it is natural, then most likely the population will restore itself once this terrible year is done.

ladymonarda has contributed a photo to this story.

doraclay1

at 13:52 on August 13th, 2008

There has been a dramatic decrease in the population of honeybees in the USA and Europe due to "Colony Collapse Disorder";. This has serious consequences for us because bees pollinate the plants we depend on for food. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

doraclay1 has contributed a photo to this story.

photofox

at 14:03 on August 13th, 2008

Unfortunate that they are in decline. They are very interesting to photograph. I have other shots available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/takenbydigital/

photofox has contributed a photo to this story.

aoghanart

at 14:15 on August 13th, 2008

Photograph taken by C. Egan-Feely 2008
This bee was buzzing around on my sage, it wasn't easy to capture it as it flitted around from one flower to another. Enjoy.

aoghanart has contributed a photo to this story.