Truck Carrying 14 Million Honeybees Crashes

Part of the honeybee rescue effort. Photo courtesy: katu.com

As anyone who reads my blog with any regularity knows, I have a special passion for honeybees; raw, unpasterized honey; and, flying pollinators in general. Without our winged pollinators, we would soon be unable to feed ourselves.

While I applaud bees being rented out to help the farmers increase their agricultural yields for many reasons, safer transport over shorter distances must be found for these precious little pollinators.

In the search for solutions to the ongoing plight of honeybees, both mainstream bee experts and advocates of alternative approaches to beekeeping have suggested that the practice of trucking honeybees thousands of miles across country for pollination may be causing undue stress and contributing to colony losses. Whether or not this is the case, it's a fair bet that crashing a truck full of bees is not going to do them, or rescue workers dealing with the incident, much good. The Daily Mail reports on a major honeybee truck crash in Idaho that resulted in 14 million displaced bees, honey all over the highway, stung rescue workers, and a fear of hungry bears:

Fire crews sprayed the bees with water at first to try and cool them down. A bee expert then suggested using fire foam to try and kill them so the workers could get near the truck to clean up the mess and recover the vehicle and surviving hives.

"I am worried about the bears coming down now - the grizzly bears because there are so many bees that we didn't kill that they will be down," said Chief Strandberg.

The weekend did not end well for fire and police personnel near Island Park, Idaho, where 14 million bees went berserk after a semi wrecked on a highway Sunday afternoon. The truck was carrying more than 400 hives; crews didn't finish cleaning what was called a river of honey off the road until the nex day.

The bees swarmed in black clouds that kept the truck driver and rescue personnel in their vehicles until they could put on protective gear. In the end, it seems that many of the bees were killed after being sprayed by firefighting foam.

The load of bees and honey was headed from California to Minot, N.D. And according to local TV station KIFI (Local News 8), "It is not unusual for semi-trucks with bees to travel U.S. Highway 20. Strandberg said about three or four trucks come through every week."

KIFI reports that the bees have a street value of three cents apiece, meaning that an estimated $400,000 worth of insects were lost in the crash.

KIFI sent a Local News 8 reporter to the scene; the resulting piece seems to have been filed under a state of extreme duress, as one roadside "standup" shot devolved into hair-flailing acts of self-preservation before she could speak. You can watch the video. But it should be noted that it's not easy to film bees on the best of days, let alone when they're rampaging along a rural highway that's also likely to become a gathering point for grizzly bears.

For any conspiracy theorists out there, who may be wondering why millions of bees are routinely being transported on America's highways, on shadowy semis bound for the Dakotas — check out the entry on bees at the X-Files Wiki.

A video of the incident.

Britain Suffers Huge Honeybee Loss Over Past Winter

The north-east of England has recorded a honeybee loss rate of 17.1%. Photograph courtesy: Saul Loeb/AFP via guardian

Winged pollinators, most especially bees, are still under attack on a myriad of fronts; and, are suffering staggering decreases in their numbers. The UK, in particular, has suffered a tremendous loss to their honeybee population this winter; and, are trying desperately to bolster the declining honeybee situation.

We, in Canada and the USA, are suffering the same sorts of declines - as are countries all over the world - but, the UK seems to take this crisis much more seriously than other countries. They appear to realize that if we lose our winged pollinators, eventually our entire food chain will collapse.

In 2008, the bee was named "The World's Most Invaluable Species" by Earthwatch during their annual event which is eagerly attended by scientists and non-scientists alike. With all our neighbours across the pond do for bees, it seems a shame that they should have suffered such a loss this winter.

Honeybee populations declined by 13.6% over the winter according to a survey of beekeepers across England. Losses were most severe in the north-east where the survey recorded a loss rate of 17.1%.

Experts worry that the declines will affect plant productivity. There are also concerns that the declines, along with drought conditions in some areas, will mean less English honey this year.

Martin Smith, president of the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), which carried out the survey, said: "If this was measured against similar losses in livestock it would be seen as disastrous and there would be great concern on the knock-on impact of food prices."

Beekeepers are puzzled by the decline because the cold winter and early spring should have favoured bees. They stay "clustered" tightly in their hives when it is cold and dry, saving energy for spring foraging when the temperature rises about 12C.

However, there is good news that the rate of colony loss has slowed. Four years ago, one in three hives was wiped out.

Beekeepers suspect that poor nutrition is a likely cause of weakness in adult bees that makes them succumb to diseases spread by a parasitic mite.

"The varroa mite is the number one reason why people lose bees, so the government needs to increase research to cure diseases caused by varroa," said Smith. "But a colony that has a good source of pollen and nectar will go into winter stronger and better able to fend off disease."

The association is calling on everyone who has a garden, however small, to plant bee-friendly plants this summer. "It is really important that there are flowering nectar-rich plants around in August, September and October to provide the nutrition that's needed so the bees can top up their stores of honey in the hive to see them through winter," said Smith.

A campaign being launched next week to save all bees, spearheaded by Sam Roddick and Neal's Yard Remedies, pins the blame for the decline on pesticide. It will start a petition to hand to Downing Street in October to ban the use of a class of pesticides that has been implicated in bee deaths across the world.

Roddick said: "These neonicotinoid pesticides penetrate the plant and indiscriminately attack the nervous system of insects that feed off them, disorientating bees, impairing their foraging ability and weakening their immune system, causing bee Aids. On current evidence, Italy, Germany and Slovenia have banned some varieties. In the UK, it's up to the people to show the government that if there is any doubt that they are contributing to bee deaths, we need to ban them."

A spokesman for the government's National Bee Unit said: "The UK has a robust system for assessing risks from pesticides and all the evidence shows neonicotinoids do not pose an unacceptable risk when products are used correctly, but we will not hesitate to act if presented with any new evidence. "

He added: "Although we're pleased the BBKA's seen fewer overwintering losses, bees continue to be affected by pests, diseases, and the weather. Amid a range of initiatives, we're training beekeepers, researching varroa mite controls, and improving the availability of medicines."

On a personal level, I have divided my reasonably-sized balcony into edible and non-edible portions. I grow some edibles for my consumption and try to lay in few flowering veg such as tomatoes for the bees' sake. The other portion is my non-edible, bee-friendly garden which is a riot of winged pollinator-friendly flowers and shrubs. I put a small nest out for mason bees planted a dwarf cherry tree along with several medium-sized shrubs; then sat back and watched.

My favourite chair faces the balcony which is where I spend most evenings sitting watching the wildlife. Now, as anyone who knows me realizes, I live on the 4th floor which may make you wonder "what wildlife?"

I have found, to my utter delight, that my "naturalized" balcony attracts not only the winged pollinators I was after; but, quite an array of bird life. Birds have always fascinated me; and, I can watch them for hours. Unbelievably, I even had a woodpecker visit my balcony the other day.

Bee friendly to our winged pollinators!

Via guardian

USA Still Suffering Honey Bee Losses

Researchers said that continued losses of this magnitude are not economically sustainable for commercial beekeepers. Photo courtesy: Jack Dykinga

Reprinted from Wildlife Extra

Losses of managed honey bee colonies across the USA totalled 33.8% from all causes last winter (October 2009 to April 2010), according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Beekeepers identified starvation, poor weather, and weak colonies going into winter as the top reasons for mortality in their operations.

This is an increase from overall losses of 29% reported from a similar survey covering the winter of 2008-2009, and similar to the 35.8% losses for the winter of 2007-2008.

The researchers said that continued losses of this magnitude are not economically sustainable for commercial beekeepers. The continued high rate of losses are worrying, especially considering losses occurring over the summer months were not being captured, notes Jeffrey Pettis, research leader of ARS' Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's principal intramural scientific research agency. The survey was conducted by Pettis and past AIA presidents Dennis van Engelsdorp and Jerry Hayes.

The 28% of beekeeping operations that reported some of their colonies perished without dead bees present--a sign of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)--lost 44% of their colonies. This compares to 26% of beekeepers reporting such dead colonies in the 2008-2009 winter and 32% in the 2007-2008 winter. Beekeepers that did not report their colonies having CCD lost 25% of their colonies.

As this was an interview-based survey, it was not possible to differentiate between verifiable cases of CCD and colonies lost as the result of other causes that share the "absence of dead bees" as a symptom. The cause of CCD is still unknown.

The survey checked on about 22.4% of the country's estimated 2.46 million colonies. The survey reports only winter losses and does not capture colony losses that occur throughout the summer when queens or entire colonies fail and need to be replaced. Those summer losses can be significant.

Declared The World's Most Invaluable Species

Thursday, November 20, 2008 was officially recognized as the “The Night of the Bee.” No, no, not another horror flick like “The Killer Tomato That Ate Chicago.” Something much more auspicious than that. The bee was officially named the "world’s most invaluable species" at the annual Earthwatch debate held in London, England.

The Earthwatch debate is a public debate which sees eminent scientists battling it out to have their endangered species declared the world’s most invaluable species. Besides the honour of being named “world’s most invaluable species” comes a fictitious one trillion dollar cheque to be spent on their conservation.

The debate is a much-anticipated event every year, attended by the general public who listen attentively to the cases put forward by the scientists. There is a vigorous question and answer period for the audience followed by the vote. An option buffet follows for those eager to continue the debate amongst themselves.
This year there were five endangered species represented by five of Britain’s most eminent scientists. They were:

Bats - Dr. Kate Jones, the Zoological Society of London
Bees - Dr. George McGavin, Honorary Research Associate, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Fungi - Prof. Lynne Boddy, Cardiff School of Biosciences
Plankton - Prof. David Thomas, School of Ocean Sciences, University of Bangor
Primates - Ian Redmond OBE, Chairman of the Ape Alliance
The evening was chaired by Andrea Catherwood, award-winning broadcaster and TV presenter.

Deciding that they didn’t want a world without honey, flowers and a third of everything we eat including chocolate and coffee, the audience voted to save the bees.

Without bees 250,000 species of flowering plants would not get pollinated. Many of these are crucial to world agriculture. The yields of approximately 90 crops are increased by up to 30% (including many of my favourites, such as apples, blueberries and cucumbers). Without bees, these fruits and vegetables would become scarce and therefore tremendously expensive.

Bees also pollinate many of the plants that provide both our conventional and alternative medicines; the cotton plant that provides the cheap t-shirt and jeans; they feed birds and small mammals by pollinating the berries and seeds they feed on; they feed the omnivores and carnivores by feeding the birds and small mammals they eat; and so on up the food chain.

We could survive on wind-pollinated grains and fish; but, there would be wars for control of dwindling food supplies. South America's ancient Mayan civilization is thought to have died of starvation. The veneer of civilization is very, very thin when comes to things like survival.

Although other insects and animals do pollinate – such as bats, butterflies and even wasps – none is designed like the bee as a pollinator machine.

While there are 20,000 bee species around the world, honey bees are most valuable to mankind. Honeybees live in huge colonies of up 50,000 in the summer months, pollinate many different plant species (multi-taskers) and their ability to be managed, manipulated and transported by man makes them the most valuable pollinator of all winged pollinators.

Unfortunately, bees are in serious trouble all over the globe. There has been such a decline in their numbers that …well, they’ve just been named “world’s most invaluable species, haven’t they?

Industrialized farming with its monocultures and pesticides has destroyed biodiversity robbing the majority of bees of their habitat and food sources. Across the globe the western honeybee – bred for its gentle nature and prolific honey making and pollination capacity – is plagued by parasites and viruses. If that isn’t enough, modern agricultural practices jeopardize their continued survival.

More than a third of honeybees were wiped out in the US this year by Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious disease which is thought to be a combination of these assailants.

As Dr George McGavin, who was batting for the bees said: "Bee populations are in freefall. A world without bees would be totally catastrophic."

Bravo to the forward-thinking Earthwatch audience who had the foresight to vote for the bees. (I can see you smiling from here K.)