Risky beesness

Colony collapse disorder still affecting honey production

By MARVIN BAKER, Staff Writer mbaker@minotdailynews.com
North Dakota is once again poised to lead the nation in honey production, but like every other aspect of agriculture, a number of things could change that scenario in a hurry.


One of them is colony collapse disorder, a poorly understood phenomenon that has reduced some apiaries by as much as 90 percent. Many others across the country have reported losses up to 30 percent.


North Dakota has so far escaped this mystery that was positively identified in October 2006 in Mississippi. But one Minot beekeeper isn’t so sure. Will Nissen said he typically loses about 5 percent of his hives above and beyond what is considered a routine winter loss.


“We’re pretty fortunate. It’s not gloom and doom here,” Nissen said. “The experts can’t nail it down. They can’t put a finger on it.”


Nissen, who is also president of the North Dakota Beekeepers Association, said science is aware that stress of any kind will have an adverse effect on the honey bees.


Moving them to California or Texas for the winter months, or keeping them in cold conditions in the state, may be a key factor in CCD.


“We can’t pinpoint it. We’re fighting nature,” Nissen said. “We can’t let them stress for too long.”


It isn’t necessarily a move that causes the bees to disappear, according to Nissen.


“I started this in 1978 and we may move them more now, but we’ve always moved them,” Nissen said. “We placed them in natural pollen instead of the artificial pollen sources they get today and that may be part of the problem too.”


Clarence Collison, the head of entomology and plant pathology at Mississippi State University, was part of the team that identified CCD. He believes there’s a natural attack mechanism bringing down the bees.


“We firmly believe the bees are under some type of stress,” Collison said. “They’re finding a lot of pathogens in the adult bees and most of these pathogens are related to stress. Some people can lose 90 percent of their hives but the colonies are not leaving quantities of dead bees to study.”


Twenty-four states, including California, have reported an economic impact from CCD. One University of California-Davis researcher theorized the bees are just getting tired.


He said drought conditions in California have left little vegetation for the bees to go after pollen.


“They’re burning up their flight muscles looking for pollen to rear the brood and take them through winter,” Mussen said.


There are several additional possibilities that could be causing CCD and Nissen said there’s a good chance a combination of forces might be working against the bees.


Two other possibilities, including genetically modified organisms and pesticides, could be contributing to CCD. The GMO theory is a long shot, according to Collison, because bees won’t seek out typical GM crops like corn or cotton, unless it’s a last resort.


A longer shot is a German study that focused on cellular telephone use causing CCD. It was determined that signals transmitted from cell phones do not adversely affect honey bees.


But, the pesticide theory may carry some validity. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has reported that nicotine-based pesticides, referred to as neonicotinoids, may very well be the reason why bees disappear from the colony, making them unavailable for study.


Since nicotine is considered a neurotoxin and is used in certain pesticides, Agriculture Canada scientists have stated the neonicotinoids are essentially paralyzing the bees while they are scouting for food sources.


In colonial America, tobacco was often grown and used as a natural pesticide because of the nicotine content in the plant. Because it is toxic to insects, they will generally stay clear of the tobacco and whatever is nearby. Today, the nicotine is concentrated and used as an ingredient in insecticides.


Nissen said he is aware of neonicotinoids, but didn’t elaborate on the subject citing lack of understanding.


What he does understand is management, and suggested that poor management may also be a factor in CCD. He said the apiaries in northwestern North Dakota send samples away twice a year in an attempt to find any signs of CCD.


But there is also the varroa mite, a parasite that has been destroying bees and is now building up a resistance to drugs and chemicals produced to fight them.


Nissen said one good way to circumvent that issue is to keep young, healthy queens in the colonies. He said the mites are always present, but seemingly healthy bees will be able to fight off parasites and disease.


According to Nissen, the only way to prevent CCD from getting into North Dakota’s honey bee population is to take one day at a time.


That’s the only way to mitigate this,” Nissen said. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”


And as far as North Dakota leading the nation in honey production in 2008, Nissen said the jury is still out. As a matter of fact, he said honey bees have been in the northwest about three weeks now and should have already gone to work. Unseasonably cool temperatures are keeping the bees in a mostly lethargic state.


“The cold bees are not flying,” Nissen said. “And one of the worst things in honey production is idle bees.”