A Survey of Honey Bee Colony Losses in the U.S., Fall 2007 to Spring 2008

Abstract

BackgroundHoney bees are an essential component of modern agriculture. A recently recognized ailment, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), devastates colonies, leaving hives with a complete lack of bees, dead or alive. Up to now, estimates of honey bee population decline have not included losses occurring during the wintering period, thus underestimating actual colony mortality. Our survey quantifies the extent of colony losses in the United States over the winter of 2007–2008.Methodology/Principal FindingsSurveys were conducted to quantify and identify management factors (e.g. operation size, hive migration) that contribute to high colony losses in general and CCD symptoms in particular. Over 19% of the country's estimated 2.44 million colonies were surveyed. A total loss of 35.8% of colonies was recorded; an increase of 11.4% compared to last year. Operations that pollinated almonds lost, on average, the same number of colonies as those that did not. The 37.9% of operations that reported having at least some of their colonies die with a complete lack of bees had a total loss of 40.8% of colonies compared to the 17.1% loss reported by beekeepers without this symptom. Large operations were more likely to have this symptom suggesting that a contagious condition may be a causal factor. Sixty percent of all colonies that were reported dead in this survey died without dead bees, and thus possibly suffered from CCD. In PA, losses varied with region, indicating that ambient temperature over winter may be an important factor.Conclusions/SignificanceOf utmost importance to understanding the recent losses and CCD is keeping track of losses over time and on a large geographic scale. Given that our surveys are representative of the losses across all beekeeping operations, between 0.75 and 1.00 million honey bee colonies are estimated to have died in the United States over the winter of 2007–2008. This article is an extensive survey of U.S. beekeepers across the continent, serving as a reference for comparison with future losses as well as providing guidance to future hypothesis-driven research on the causes of colony mortality.

Honey constituents up-regulate detoxification and immunity genes in the western honey bee Apis mellifera

“…The apicultural industry in the United States, however, has been threatened in recent years by substantial colony losses. During the past 5 y, annual losses have amounted to ∼30% of managed colonies in the United States (2)(3)(4)(5). Colony collapse disorder, a suite of symptoms associated with many of these losses, is characterized by a sudden disappearance of worker bees (2-6).…”

Seasonal prevalence of pathogens and parasites in the savannah honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata)

“…The health of honeybees has been one of the most important topics in apicultural research in recent years (Genersch, 2010). This is primarily due to the recent emergence of high honeybee colony losses in many parts of the world (Le Conte et al, 2010;Neumann and Carreck, 2010;Stokstad, 2007;vanEngelsdorp et al, 2008) and the vulnerability of honeybees to parasitic mites, fungi, viruses and bacteria (Bailey and Ball, 1991;Chen et al, 2006;Dietemann et al, 2012;Genersch, 2010;Genersch et al, 2010;Martin, 2001;Ribière et al, 2010;Sammataro et al, 2000). These pathogens and parasites can have harmful effects on honeybee health and the services they offer, which in turn can lead to severe economic losses (Genersch, 2010;Morse and Calderone, 2000;Shen et al, 2005).…”

Antioxidant supplementation can reduce the survival costs of excess amino acid intake in honeybees

“…However, honeybee populations are declining (vanEngelsdorp et al, 2008). A poor diet, due to land use changes reducing the availability and diversity of floral resources, may help drive these declines (Vanbergen and the Insect Pollinators Initiative, 2013).…”