About a month ago, The Wall Street Journal posted a controversial editorial on the topic of Colony Collapse Disorder. The article basically said that it’s not a big deal and we (as beekeepers) are fine and there is not need to worry about pollination of our food supply.

I thought it would be fun to post the link to the article, a counter point response by Jeff Anderson (beekeeper in Minnesota) and Grampa’s Gourmet’s take as well.

Point

Here’s the original WSJ article: Blessed Are the Beekeepers

Counterpoint 1

Jeff’s response in it’s entirety (thanks to Tom Theobald for sharing):

June 24, 2011

Editor, The Wall Street Journal
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Dear Editor:

I was at once pleased and disturbed by “Blessed Are the Beekeepers” (Rucker/Thurman OpEd, June 22, 2011). I am very pleased that the authors; “pay homage to the resilience of honeybees and to the business acumen and perseverance of commercial beekeepers.” As a migratory commercial beekeeper for 35 years who has operated as many as 5000 bee hives and as few as 1500, I say a hearty “Thanks!!!” That said, there remain several factual errors and unsubstantiated claims in the piece.

Rucker/Thurman boldly—and falsely—label Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) a ”disease.” This is an almost understandable mistake. Even some bee researchers have tried to paint CCD as a ‘disease’ similar to the other historical bee mortality events. While nearly all of the significant historic events can be traced to a SINGLE causative factor, CCD is different. Honey bees now have ‘AIDS’. One year my hives appear to die from nosema, the next a virus, the following, varroa mites and on… The one constant? . . . nearly all hive losses can be blamed on compromised immune system. Pathogens, which bees were previously able to survive, are now easily vectored and quickly tip the scales into colony demise.. Is it a strange coincidence that the new “softer” agricultural chemicals target the very P450 enzymes that insects—in fact, all animals including humans—use to process and jettison toxins from their systems?

Summarizing several other points from the article which I feel need addressing;
‘Bee supply for pollinated crops has been stable’
‘Increased cost of renting bees since the inception of CCD has been ‘modest’
‘Honey production has been stable “approximately the same in 2010 as it was in the several years before CCD”’

Contra Rucker/Thurman the cost of honey bee colonies for pollination has increased drastically since 2004. While fall of 2006 is given as the start of CCD, it is important to note that many bee operations were experiencing very high losses as early as the fall of 2004. It wasn’t until Penn State was invited to investigate in the fall of 2006 that these losses were recognized and termed CCD. CCD is used to describe colony mortality for which the cause is unknown.

In 1998 honey bee colonies for Almond pollination in CA were $40 per hive. That price remained fairly constant with an average of $50 paid in 2004. In 2005 the price spiked; $85 up to $145 due to bee shortages. The average in 2006 was $135 and this past year was about $150 per colony.

The sharp price increase in 2005 was due to a severe shortage which was covered by migratory bees from the East coast which were able to afford to make the trip to California for more than doubled pollination price. If one is to believe that CCD started in January of 2007, you can legitimately state that the increased cost of renting bees has been modest. The major price jump is the main factor in maintaining a nearly adequate bee supply.

Further, Rucker/Thurman categorically state that domestic honey production “has been stable.” This is false. National Honey Board records on the amount of honey produced in the U.S. is on a steady downward trend line. Similarly, if you take 5 year averages, over the last 15 years a disturbing pattern emerges, both in colony counts, and the amount of honey produced by each colony. Using National Agricultural Statistic Survey Numbers (NASS) averaged for 5 years

One last fact about honey according to National Honey Board figures, in round numbers 10 years ago US honey producers supplied 2/3 of the US market, today 2/3 is being supplied by other countries. Therefore, while there is no shortage of honey to supply the US market, the US produced supply is rapidly declining with the ever-increasing gap supplied by foreign countries.

The article concluded by stating, “In the meantime, we can be grateful that CCD has had no measurable, let alone drastic, effects on the availability of fruits, vegetables, nuts and honey. Beekeepers have been as busy as . . . well, as their iconic insect partners to bring this about”.

Considering my last winters 30%+ losses followed by 20% queen losses of hives I divided to recover this spring, and the fact that my crew is out today still dividing bees as I am writing this which is 2 months after we are usually quit dividing, I don’t consider abnormal bee mortality at an end yet.

You decide

Jeff Anderson
Owner of California Minnesota Honey Farms
Eagle Bend Minnesota

Counterpoint 2

Here’s Grampa’s Honey’s response:

Rucker/Thurman are obviously more concerned about presenting the article as a economic news article related to Agri-business on the wall, not as a scientific article. Jeff is correct in pointing out their blunders. I believe Rucker/Thurman wrote the article to stem fear in a particular market. The U.S. Dept. of Ag, like most federal agencies, are far detached from reality. They rely on “experts” opinions and surveys to gather data. The data rarely represents the true situation.

We as beekeepers have seen the problems since 2006. We have seen the increase in pollination and honey prices. We have also seen the weak and struggling colonies that would have never passed strength inspections in the past allowed to fill contracts.

Just as in beekeeping itself, there are so many factors at play in the beekeeping industry. This article is simply the talking heads spinning their version so that their stock in Monsanto, P&G, and Cargill doesn’t  go in the tank.

Brent Edelen
Simply Honey/Grampas Gourmet
Alamosa, CO

She’s doing some amazing work.

This video was recently posted on TED and I thought it was great enough to share here. It’s a talk by Dennis vanEngelsdorp, who is the Acting State Apiarist for Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture, studying colony collapse disorder — the alarming, worldwide disappearance of worker bees and Western honey bees.

Dennis does a great job conveying his passion for bees and beekeeping.