Honey bees are doing well despite varroa mites, the Covid-fueled economy, and other problems
Paul Driessen
A flood of media reports from 2013 to 2014 presented frightening stories of “unprecedented” colony collapse disorders (CCD) in honey bees and conjured up visions of a “bee cupypse” and a “world without bees”, a world in which flowers and agriculture would be decimated become.
Many articles accused neonicotinoid pesticides, while other articles named climate change and biotech crops (GMOs) as likely culprits. Some cited varroa destructor mites and various viruses and diseases as possible causes. Virtually none indicated that chemicals from the organic food industry could also be linked to bee deaths. The general tone was “deep concern” and bordered on hysteria. But it sold papers and airtime.
Over the next several years, the number of American honey producing bee colonies (beehives) increased in general and gradually, albeit with bumps in the road. There were 100,000 more beehives in 2014 than in 2013, and there was a slight roller coaster ride in subsequent years that went up and down the same range as 1993-2012.
A recent US Department of Agriculture report on honey could raise new concerns, especially when combined with recent data showing a 4% decrease in US bee colonies: 2,812,000 in 2019 versus 2,706,000 in 2020. This time is however, the more likely cause is the 2020 Covid-powered economy
In fact, honey production declined 6%, but honey prices rose slightly to offset some of the lower production and sales figures. Income from almond groves and other pollinants fell by 18% and other income fell even more. But it’s also interesting that there were 1,000 fewer apiary workers in 2020 than in the previous year – and spending on combating varroa and other bee diseases fell by almost 30% (the same drop as spending on syrup and other bee feeds). That largely explains the lower beehive numbers.
(It’s also interesting that four states – Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota – made up 38% of all U.S. honeybee colonies in 2020, many of which relied on canola flowers. Their honey averaged $ 1.60 in 2020 per pound versus $ 6.30 per pound for boutique honey from four states – Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Vermont – which together made up just over 1% of all U.S. hives.)
Even more fascinating and instructive is the development of the American honeybee colonies over the past five decades, which shows no association with neonics, other pesticides or many other things.
The all-time high for US honey hives was in 1977 (4,323,000 colonies), 6% higher than 1972. The total then dropped 25% in 1986 – and has been no more than 3,000,000 since 1992. The time low for US honey bee colonies was 2,342,000 in 2008 – five years before the bee cupypse!
It becomes even more difficult to decipher the recent bee problems when you discover that varroa mites didn’t arrive in the US until 1987 and neonic use didn’t begin until the mid-1990s. The number of US honeybee colonies, however, has been consistently in the 2.5-2.9 million range, with only a few drops to 2.4 million.
Varroa mites are a nasty threat, mainly because the American-European honey bee (unlike its Asian cousin) had no natural defense against them. The mites bite into bees and bee larvae, feed on bee blood and create pathways in bees for at least 19 viruses and diseases. Tracheal mites, Nosema intestinal fungi, parasitic phorid flies, the tobacco ringspot virus and other pests can also cause significant colony losses.
Beekeepers can accidentally kill entire hives and try to address such issues, but professionals have become much better at getting treatments and doses right than most beekeepers who are hobbyists.
As the name suggests, neonicotinoid pesticides are derived from synthetic nicotine. About 90% is applied as seed coatings, which dissolve and are absorbed by the plant tissue as the plant grows. They only target and kill pests that feed on the crop. Neonics also largely eliminate the need to spray with other insecticides that can easily harm bees and other beneficial insects. These innovative chemicals have nonetheless been used by anti-pesticide groups and by organic food manufacturers who themselves use various phytoprotective pesticides that are harmful or deadly to honeybees and wild bees.
Among these organic agricultural chemicals, pyrethrin neurotoxin pesticides are highly toxic to bees, potential human carcinogens – and are no longer made from flowers but are made synthetically. Nicotine sulfate can partially paralyze bees’ wings and legs and be toxic to humans. Copper sulfate is highly toxic to bees, deadly to fish, bioaccumulative in soil and water, and bad all around.
A change in farming and land use practices is also playing a role, including more homes, factories, and highways replacing flowering trees and open plant fields that provide bees with pollen and nectar.
However, when they see glaring photos of dead bees, people should understand that bees have a very short life. Exactly how long depends on their species and gender, the climate in which they live, the availability of food, the general health of the bees in the hive – and what time of year bees emerge from their cell.
Queen bees can live 2-3 years, even 4 years or longer; They lay up to 2,000 eggs a day. Male drone bees live for several months in warm weather, but die after mating with a queen because their reproductive organs are ripped from their bodies! Workers only live 4-6 weeks because they look for food for miles every day and wear down their bodies quickly. In winter, they live up to 20 weeks when it is their job to keep the beehive warm.
Average honeybee colonies peaked at 50,000 to 60,000 in June – but those numbers drop quickly in the fall as flowers disappear and cold weather sets in. Dead bees in and around beehives are therefore normal (but excellent food for scare tactics).
Regarding the “Colony Collapse Disorder” (sometimes referred to as “Disappearing Disorder”), large bee deaths were reported in Ireland as early as 950 AD! The first US case of female workers suddenly leaving beehives full of honey occurred in 1869; Researchers reported 25 significant bee deaths between this and 2003. The causes are unknown, but the deaths are not unprecedented.
Of course, studies should prove the toxicity of neonics. Many, however, have been done in laboratories, using dosages and application methods unrelated to what farmers do or what bees experience in the real world, where they might encounter neon levels in pollen and nectar, measured in parts per billion or more Trillion: the equivalent of a few seconds in 32 or 32,000 years.
Several field studies – on actual farm fields – have consistently shown no adverse effects on honeybees at the colony level from realistic exposure to neonics. In fact, bees thrive in and around neon-treated corn and canola plants in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere.
So it was very surprising that a 2017 article in the respected journal Science claimed that two years of field studies in three countries showed that exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides increased the ability of honeybees and wild bees to survive winter the following year and establishing new populations and hives decreased. The article sparked an anger of statements from the likes of Greenpeace and the Pesticide Action Network. But it is no longer available online.
Perhaps that’s because, as I explained in my own detailed assessment, the authors violated several guidelines for scientific integrity. Her own data not only contradicted her main claim; They kept extensive data out of their analysis and only included what supported their conclusions. That’s cheating.
When all missing and treated data were examined, 238 of the 258 separate statistical data analyzes from honey bees that participated in the study found no effects on neonatal bees and 7 found beneficial effects of the pesticide! Only 9 (only 3%) found harmful effects, while 4 had insufficient data.
It is important that we protect our honey bees, bumblebees and wild bees. But that means understanding history, science, modern agriculture, and the life expectancy of bees – so that we won’t be so easily haunted by garish stories about the Armageddon bee and not do more harm than good to the best of intentions.
Paul Driessen is Senior Policy Analyst for the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of books and articles on energy, climate and environmental issues.
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