Bee mortality is an issue across the country, but there is yet a consensus as to the problem. Many entomologists, bee keepers and agricultural scientists see it as a perfect storm of issues combining to cause the decline. That nationwide perspective is no different right here at home.
"The disappearing colonies can't be attributed to any one thing," said Missouri State Bee- keepers Association President and Callaway County beekeeper Valerie Duever. "But it's tricky to do a lot of research because they only have a life span of 6 to 8 weeks, and because bees travel up to 2.5 miles to forage for water and nectar, it is also difficult to set up a standardized control group," she said.
Some of the factors thought to be involved in the die off are
Varroa mites, which are parasites that attack both adult bees and the developing brood, extreme weather changes, pesticides and herbicides.
Some pesticides, being that they are created to kill insects, are being tested to see what impact they are having on bee populations. And it is thought that herbicides assist in population decline when they are applied to yards or fields to kill wildflowers. Flowers provide the bees' food source.
"If people want honey, they need to let their flowers grow," said beekeeper Nancy Giofre of Giofre Apiaries in Millersburg who owns up to 50 hives. "I'm lucky because some of my hives are near Missouri Department of Conservation land, and they keep it pretty natural."
Giofre says that she thinks people just don't know that by mowing down wildflowers or using weed killing herbicides in
their yards, they are contributing to the problem. "Likewise, if people are using [a pesticidal dust] in their gardens, the bees pick it up like pollen and carry it back to the hives," she said.
Because bees pollinate many of our food crops-though exact numbers are conflicting-the issue of bee loss is greater than that of people wanting to satiate their sweet tooth. There is a larger implication on societal impacts and food production.
One thing that beekeepers are being asked to do to mitigate the problem is to register their hives on a website known as Drift- Watch, which maps the location of specialty crops, including beehives, and weather data. The hope is that pesticide applicators in other sects of the agriculture industry will consider the information before spraying. These two entities working together is an effort to eliminate pesticide drift. According to the
University of Missouri Extension office website, The Missouri Pollinator Conservancy Program is working with DriftWatch with the hope of the pro- gram "opening talks between farmers, consultants, applicators and beekeepers."
"I believe the problem is getting better," said Valerie Duever. "I'm also a firm believer that people do the right thing, and that if we communicate about what we need to do as beekeepers and what pesticide users need to do for their crops, and we can find a way for it to work. It's all about education."
Blake Hurst, President of the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation out of Jefferson City, was not available for comment, but in his white paper on toxic pesticide products and bees dated August 25, 2015, Hurst wrote, "We support efforts to keep the apiculture industry viable in the United States. We can import
honey, but we cannot import the pollination benefits of the beekeeping industry to American culture."
The paper goes on to say that they oppose "universal" restrictions on certain pesticide uses and hope further studies will be done so that restrictions are only applied to those pesticides proven to be "acutely toxic to bees."
According to the United States Department of Agriculture website, "total annual losses [of bee colonies in the United States] were 42.1 percent for April 2014 through April 2015." That figure is up from 34.2 per- cent for the same 2013-2014 period.
"I lost four hives this year," said Giofre. "But I'm hoping that with the Goldenrod blooming the way it is, it will sustain the rest of my hives and keep them healthy through the winter."