Bijensterfte, oorzaken en gevolgen

De bijensterfte onder de Almeerse bijenvolken is dit jaar hoger uitgevallen dan verwacht. ,,Bijna de helft is verloren gegaan'', zegt Cor Dol van Imkervereniging Almere. ,,Van de acht volken die ik zelf verzorg waren er nog maar twee over. Daar heb ik acht liter honing uit gewonnen terwijl ik normaal minstens tien liter uit een kast haal. In mei zijn we meteen begonnen met het maken van nieuwe volken. Dat gaat heel makkelijk door de koningin van een bestaand volk te plaatsen in een nieuwe kast. Het bestaande volk zoekt automatisch een nieuwe koningin, zo kunnen we soms van één volk drie volken maken. Met het mooie weer van de afgelopen weken zijn de volken al enorm uitgedijd, maar het is afwachten of ze de winter overleven tot het voorjaar."

Bijenhouders luiden de noodklok: de Nederlandse bijen, essentieel voor de bestuiving van groente en fruit, sterven massaal. In de regio Amsterdam overleefde vorig jaar zelfs tussen de tachtig en negentig procent van de bijen de winter niet. De bijen bezweken aan wat imkers wel de ‘verdwijnziekte’ noemen: een mysterieuze aandoening waarbij werksters nog wel uitvliegen op zoek naar voedsel, maar niet meer de kracht hebben om terug te keren, met het uitsterven van hele kolonies als gevolg. Een bijkomend probleem is de vergrijzing onder imkers. Het aantal bijenhouders loopt al jaren terug en de nieuwe aanwas is minimaal, weet Ries Hoogendoorn (69), voorzitter van de Amsterdamse Vereniging tot Bevordering van de Bijenteelt, die vorige winter negentig procent van zijn bijen verloor.

Het Bijenhof is het tweede imkerbedrijf in West-Vlaanderen dat een groot aantal bijen verloren ziet gaan. Een verkeerde of verboden toepassing van pesticiden ligt mogelijk aan de basis van de massale sterfte. 'De bijen vielen letterlijk met bosjes uit de lucht. Ze vlogen traag en hulpeloos in het rond in de hoop hun bijenkast terug te vinden, maar dat deden ze niet, ook al waren ze slechts een honderdtal meter van de kast verwijderd. Het leek wel of ze hun oriëntatie kwijt waren. De beestjes die op de grond lagen, gingen na een tijdje dood', zegt Pascal Deboeverie, bedrijfsleider in het Bijenhof, één van de hoofdrolspelers in de wereld van de imkerij.

PULLMAN, Washington, July 29, 2009 (ENS) — A microscopic pathogen and pesticides embedded in old honeycombs are two major contributors to the bee disease known as colony collapse disorder, which has wiped out thousands of beehives throughout the United States and Europe over the past three years, new research at Washington State University has confirmed.

Fri, Jul 17, 2009

Having received more than 12,000 comments from concerned citizens, the Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday it will begin reviewing the pesticide responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder of bees.

As one of the first organizations in the U.S. to begin tracking this story, SafeLawns.org has long concluded that a synthetic nicotine known as imidacloprid — used to kill grubs on lawns — is responsible for the widespread bee epidemic that has claimed more than a third of the nation’s beehives since 2006. France, Germany, Italy and several other nations have already banned the chemical, often marketed as “Merit,” that has been licensed for use in the U.S. since the 1990s, but came into widespread use in 2005 after the EPA banned diazinon.

In het Juni 2009 nummer van het Franse INRA magazine (L'Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) staat een artikel "Le déclin des abeilles, un casse-tête pour la reche; dossier central". Zie:
www.inra.fr/content/download/16788/277180/version/2/file/inra-magazine-9.pdf.

New research by Prof. Vincenzo Girolami of the University of Padova in Italy shows Neonicotinoids in maize kill bees via water droplets. The same seed-dressed imidacloprid maize as the one used in this experiment is widely grown in the Netherlands.

Here you can see a video clip of the effects:

By Thad Box - www.WesternFarmerStockman.com June 2009 - opinion

It is generally accepted that toxic bank loans caused our financial system to collapse. Now it appears that toxic substances are causing collapse of a whole host of pollinators that keep natural systems functioning efficiently. And the collapses of both the financial and biological systems are part of a larger system failure. Beginning in the 1990s, beekeepers began to suspect the systemic insecticide imidacloprid for death of bees. This is a product that is taken up by plants and becomes systemic, that is it is stored in and moves through the plant system. Once the chemical is in the nectar and pollen of the plant, nothing can protect pollinators who gather the poisoned food.

June 16, 2009 Press Association Newsfile, Emily Beament, Press Association Environment Correspondent

Honeybees are making a comeback to Kew Gardens today as part of a campaign to encourage people to grow bee-friendly flowers in their gardens.

Lynda MacGibbon, 12 June 2009, canadaeast.ca

The bee was the size of an adult's thumb and strong enough to nudge the screen door open an inch or two. It was big enough to scare a scream from my housemate, Ashley, whose unhappy childhood encounter with a bee perhaps explains her anxious behaviour.

Eventually, between the two of them -- one screaming and opening the door, the other buzzing distractedly, the bee was freed. Ashley lived to tell the tale.

I should have more sympathy for Ashley. As a child she suffered her share of stings. But, truthfully, when it comes to bees, I'm in their corner. Humans can fend for themselves.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus, June 10, 2009

It's almost a century since Rupert Brook ended a poem by asking whether there would still be honey for tea. Unfortunately that question is now very relevant.

The UK bee population fell by a third a couple of winters ago, and this means honey is now more expensive, particularly as we eat about 25,000 tonnes each year and produce just 4,000 tonnes. With each teaspoon of honey requiring the work of a dozen bees, we can do with every one of them, and this probably explains the current rash of hive rustling.

More wild flowers should be planted on derelict land, roadside verges and other public spaces to save honey bees, the Women's Institute believes.

The number of bumblebees in the UK has declined by around 70 per cent since the 1970s and honey bees by up to 15 per cent in the last two years, according go official Government figures.

The sudden decline in bees has been blamed on intensive farming techniques, climate change and a mysterious condition known as colony collapse disorder. It could cause serious problems for agriculture and food production since bees are essential to pollinate many plants.

Daily Post (Liverpool) May 25, 2009, North Wales Edition

The Assembly Government has announced a pounds 486,000 boost for beleaguered Welsh honeybees.

(ANSA) - Rome, May 5 - Bees are repopulating northern Italy thanks to a ban on new types of pesticides believed responsible for decimating them, the Italian Beekeepers Association announced on Tuesday. UNAAPI Chairman Francesco Panella said the return of the bees in the fields of northern Italy ``proved that their decimation is directly linked to the ban on neonicotinoids``introduced by the agriculture ministry last September.

ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2008) — Honey bees industriously bring pollen and nectar to the hive, but along with the bounty comes a wide variety of pesticides, according to Penn State researchers. Add the outside assault to the pesticides already in the waxy structure of the hive, and bee researchers see a problem difficult to evaluate and correct. However, an innovative approach may mitigate at least some beeswax contamination.

The Associated Press, May 19, 2009 Tuesday

The decline of honeybee colonies has slowed slightly since last fall, but a mysterious combination of ailments is still decimating the insect's population, federal researchers say.

U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers found that honeybee colonies declined by 29 percent between September 2008 and early April. That's an improvement over the last two years, when researchers found that 32 percent and 36 percent of all beekeepers surveyed lost hives.

Aberdeen Press and Journal, May 20, 2009 Wednesday

DECLINING bee numbers is one of the "most worrying" environmental changes on the planet and will drastically hit food production, including Scotland's soft fruit output, if not reversed, according to a Highland MSP.

Labour MSP Peter Peacock said the decline of honey bees and other insects had been happening unnoticed and yet had profound implications for everyone.

It is estimated 84% of crops in the EU and 80% of wildflowers rely on insect pollination.

The Daily Yomiuri(Tokyo), May 19, 2009 Tuesday

The low buzzing of honeybees lingered on the sandbar in the middle of the Kisogawa river, on the border of Aichi and Gifu prefectures.

Workers wearing netting on their faces used bellows to blow smoke into the hives to calm the occupants, and quietly opened the beehives.

The Independent (London), May 18, 2009 Monday

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

For decades, Britain's native black bee has been an outcast. The Victorians threw Apis mellifera mellifera out of hives in favour of more industrious foreign species. Modern beekeepers brand it lazy and aggressive.

Now, the nation's original honeybee is coming in from the cold. Scientists believe the insect that made honey for the tables of medieval kings could reverse the collapse of bee numbers that has imperilled the annual pollination of crops worth £165m.

Honey bees vital for agricultural industry
Sue Kedgley, New Zealand Herald 4 May 2009

New Zealand is slowly waking up to the realisation that honey bees are indispensable to our agriculture, horticulture, environment and economy.