by Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

 

            Albert Einstein is credited as saying that if bees ceased to exist, mankind would follow within four years.  Einstein never uttered such words, but the quote itself makes sense.  Between 2006-2007 the United States saw a loss of nearly one quarter of its domestic bee population.  As a result, nearly 30% of the US food supply was in danger.  What is causing the bees to die off and threaten our food supply?  No one knows for sure but what was unheard of and even unnamed little more than a year ago has seeped into communities across the country, making Colony Collapse Disorder become one of the fastest growing concerns in the country. 

 

What is Colony Collapse Disorder?             

            Originally dubbed Fall Dwindle Disease when hives experienced unexplained declines in 2004, the disease knew many monikers until it was renamed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in October 2006.  

The symptoms of CCD are vague, and while it is mainly an east coast disease, occurrences are now being reported on the west coast as well.  The main symptom of CCD is that a colony of bees dies out with little explanation and no dead bees to be found.  All of the worker bees die without explanation, leaving capped broods and food stores behind.  The only surviving bees are young adults and a queen, all helpless without the rest of their colony.

Now that the disease has spurred ongoing research, symptoms of actively collapsing hives have been collected.  These hives have an insufficient amount of worker bees made mostly of young adult bees.  The colony is also hesitant to consume syrups and other provided foods, something out of the ordinary for a healthy hive. During this time there are notably less invasions by wax moths and small hive beetles, and after the collapse of the colony these common invaders are also absent when normally they would immediately invade the leftover food supply. 

            Research has also led scientists to believe that there is a link between the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and CCD.  Over the last three years scientists found that IAPV was found in 96 percent of the bees that came from collapsing hives.  However, bee colonies in the virus’s native Israel don’t exhibit the same symptoms of CCD.  In Israel the virus killed the bees in their hives; our bees are disappearing altogether.

            Toigo Orchards, an Adams Electric Cooperative member, noticed this in a few of their hives which had been found empty.  “Maybe pockets of weather are a factor,” Mary Toigo hypothesizes.  “The real problem is that they’re gone—there’s nothing there.”  She further explains that healthy hives are “active and moving.  They respond to intrusion.”

            “We do think that perhaps the virus has changed over time or mutated...or also that the virus needs additional pathogens or other triggers in order to cause the symptoms we’re seeing,” said Diana Cox-Foster on Talk of the Nation.  Cox-Foster and other researchers don’t think the virus causes CCD by itself; instead it works in combination with another pathogen to cause the disorder.  Pathogenic partners could include chemicals and herbicides as well as nutritional stress and Varroa mites. 

 

The Impact of Bees on Pa.

            Pa. boasts the fourth largest apple crop in the country—a $45 million industry.  With the crop dependent on honeybees for 90% of its pollination, bee pollination is valued at $40 million in Pa. apple crops alone.

            Apples aren’t the only crop counting on honeybees.  Pa.’s bees are directly responsible for $60 million worth of produce each year, including peaches, soybeans, pears, pumpkins, cherries, grapes, and strawberries. 

            These bees typically are rented from commercial beekeepers who place the colonies in crops for 2-3 week periods.  It is recommended that one hive is present for each acre requiring pollination.  Tim Beard of Gray Wolf Plantation in New Oxford, an Adams Collective Cooperative member, keeps bees longer due to the variety of apples grown which extends his flowering periods and also the bees’ stay to 6-7 weeks.  He shares his concern about the health of Pa.’s honeybees. 

“We rely heavily on bees to pollinate apples as well as pumpkin fields,” Beard says of his plantation which is one of the largest pumpkin producers in the state. 

 

Pa.’s Beekeepers

            Not surprisingly, the 2,000 registered beekeepers in Pa. produce nearly 600 tons of honey annually. 

            According to David Hackenberg, “You’re not paying the bills with pollination alone.”  Hackenberg once served as President of the American Beekeeping Federation and now serves as a representative for the National Honey Board.  He also works with bee research groups across the country.  

After working with bees for 45 years, Hackenberg admits that beekeeping is hard work.  “There’s not many of us left,” he admits.  He credits this fact to the late work hours and training needed to keep bee colonies.  “There haven’t been any machines made to replace the work.  It’s not like the farmer cutting corn.  A lot of our work is done by hand.” 

            This coupled with the loss of bee colonies in recent years has caused a surge in the price of bee colony rentals.  Bruce Hollabaugh of Hollabaugh Bros, Inc in Biglerville, another Adams Collective Cooperative member, explains, “We have rented bees from the same company for many years and, fortunately, their bees did not seem to be affected by CCD.  They did increase their prices significantly this year, however, because they were forced to take extraordinary means to protect and care for their bees.” 

            Glenn Bridenbauch of Bridenbauch Orchards in Blair County, a Huntington Valley Rural Electric Cooperative member, rents between 60-80 hives each year from Hackenberg Apiaries.  While he also noticed an increase in the rental price, he’s happy with the bees that pollinate his apple orchard.  “He brings good bees,” Bridenbauch commends.  “He’s been able to keep them fairly healthy.” 

            Most beekeepers’ colonies are made of honeybees rather than bumblebees.  Honeybees and bumblebees are relatives, both being in the Apidae family, though honeybees are more efficient pollinators according to David Hackenberg.

 

CCD in Pa.

Pa.’s bee colonies are in a state of decline, and CCD isn’t to blame for all of it.  The number of managed honeybee colonies in Pa. dropped by nearly 50,000 between 1982 and 2002.  Due to this drop, honey production declined by more than 2 million pounds a year. 

David Hackenberg sums it up, “If bacterial disease is all I have to worry about that would be great.”  He cites enough new problems to daunt any beekeeper, including CCD which is something that he has been involved in identifying since it first appeared in the state.

However, the most recent drop and the advent of CCD has caused the most significant deficit in our state’s bees.  Pa. lost 47 percent of its 40,000 colonies over the 2006-2007 winter.  Luckily, beekeepers replaced many of the dead colonies, leaving the state with a summer 2007 count of 35,000 colonies.

“States, like Pennsylvania, can ill afford these heavy losses,” reports the CCD Working Group in its Annual Report. 

            Most growers are aware of the problems facing beekeepers.  “You know everything happening in the industry,” explains Toigo.  She cites places like Penn State and local groups as resources for information about bees and the problems with CCD. 

            Beekeepers cite concern that once a colony collapses there are not enough bees left to rebuild it to the degree that can meet pollination needs.  The only option a keeper has after losing hives is to split the hives and allow them to repopulate, a definite detriment to economic growth for the season.  Beekeeping is at an economic threat if the populations fall.  There are currently only eleven commercial beekeepers in the state.

            Bruce Hollabaugh relies heavily on local bees for the pollination of his farm’s produce crops.  “Honey bees are the most common and (prior to this past year) the most cost-effective means of pollination.  If CCD makes renting bees impossible or so economically limiting that it is basically impossible, we will have to use other bees to pollinate.”

               David Hackenberg admits that there was a 50 percent increase in the cost of honeybee pollination in 2007.

               In the Claverack Rural Electric Cooperative area, Jeannie Jayne rents bees to pollinate Jayne’s Orchards.  Her rented bees are currently wintered in Florida and moved along the coast northward as the weather warms, pollinating crops along the way.  In previous years Jayne experienced heavy loss with rented bees which were wintered in Pennsylvania.  

What Can Be Done?

Prevention is the best plan of action for now.  While researchers at Penn State work diligently to find the cause and possible cure for the disease, local farmers and beekeepers are doing their parts to keep Pa.’s bees healthy.

Tim Beard works closely with his pollinator to ensure healthy bees.  He is careful when choosing his pesticides, and he opts for the least toxic choices.  By spraying his crops in the late afternoon during the bees’ least active time, he can lessen the contact the bees make with the chemicals.  If something more is required, he first alerts his pollinator so that the colonies can be covered and quarantined in order to protect the bees. 

“We’ve been fortunate and have not had problems with bee colonies at all,” Beard affirms.

Bruce Hollabaugh is also careful with pesticides.  “We always are very careful with insecticide use around the bees we rent.  It would be completely contradictory and counterproductive to pay to own or rent bees and then go out and spray insecticides that are known to kill bees at a time when bees are active…Using care with the kind and quality of pesticides around our bees is pretty much the status quo for us.”

Should colony rentals become scarce, there are few options that match its productivity.  Some crops are self-pollinating.  Native bees will pollinate those which need insect pollination, but Tim Beard notes that there are very few wild bees in his area of the state anymore due to pesticides, loss of habitat, mites, and predators. 

Meanwhile, Fred and Paul Andrascik, co-owners of Pome Ridge Orchards in Indiana County and members of the REA Energy Cooperative, rely on natural bee pollination and self-pollinating trees for their orchards which include apples, peaches, cherries, and pumpkins to name a few crops.  Wild colonies of honeybees reside in hollow peach trees on their property.

“It’s not like it used to be,”  Fred Andrascik admits.  “But last year there were the most honeybees I’ve seen in a long time.”  Paul agrees; he’s noticed a rise in wild bees in the last year. 

Jeannie Jayne also offers hope for a flourishing wild bee population.  “We do feel that we still have a fair amount of wild bees,” she says of her Susquehanna County orchard.  With orchards of cherries, apples, and peaches, Jayne only rents ten colonies of bees per year, far less than the recommended amount.  She credits wild bees for making up the difference year after year.  “With cherries they’re small, so you want every possible blossom pollinated,” she explains.

Another option is for a farm to host its own colony.  However, Beard offers his experience, “It was more of a nuisance looking after the bees.  It’s easier to rent them than to keep them.”

Growers who plan to rent bees should contact their beekeepers early in the season to establish if the colonies are healthy and populous enough to complete the job for the upcoming year. 

           

What the Future Holds

There is no doubt that Pa.’s bee population is on the decline.  It is believed that two species of bumblebees have become extinct in the last two years while thousands of honeybee colonies are dying unexpectedly.  With the advent of CCD the number of bees in the state may have dropped, but the awareness of the state’s bee population has risen.  It is now a public concern.

Tim Beard reaffirms,  “If we don’t overcome this bee problem, the only thing we’ll be eating is wheat and corn.”

“I don’t know if people understand the severity—no bees, no food.  People are used to imported food and aren’t aware of where it all comes from,” Jeannie Jayne explains.

Yet, the CCD Working Group seeks assurance in their report.  “The apicultural industry has proven resilient in the face of past challenges; it is our firm belief that it will do so again”

 

 

 

 

Orchards Referenced:

 

Jayne’s Orchards (Susquehanna County)

Jayne Road

West Auburn, PA 18623

570-869-1405

 

Bridenbauch Orchards (Blair County)

RR1
Martinsburg, PA 16662
814-793-2364

 

Toigo Orchards (Cumberland County)

750 South Mountain Estates Rd
Shippensburg, PA 17257
717- 532-4655

www.toigoorchards.com

 

Pome Ridge Orchards (Indiana County)

1715 Luciusboro Road

Homer City, PA 15748

724- 479-0534

 

Gray Wolf Plantation (Adams County)

350 Forest Drive
New Oxford PA 17350
717- 624-7204

www.graywolfplantation.com

 

Hollabaugh Orchards (Adams County)

545 Carlisle Road
Biglerville, PA 17307
717- 677-9494 or 717-677-8412

www.hollabaughbros.com