November 2009

By Andrea Fox, Ms. Green Quick Fixes SM

The Loss of Bees Raises Alarm Worldwide—But You Can Help!

The hive is opened, and all looks intact, but where are the adult bees?

All over the world, colonies of beehives are collapsing in an unexplained epidemic known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Beekeepers are perplexed by abandoned unproductive hives. Some are suing over pesticides applied to nearby agricultural lands.

In the U.S. a significant disappearance of honey bee colonies is occurring in at least 22 states—nearly half the nation. Massachusetts is one of these states and various beekeeping associations have reported extremely low hive production over the last four years. Our apple orchards and blueberry bushes are just two of the many crops in danger.

Laura Kelley, of Littlefield Landscapes, Eastham, said her hives were too weak and did not produce one jar of honey in 2009. Her beekeeping colleagues from all over the East Coast, some with up to 900 hives, reported the same.

Photos courtesy of Littlefield Landscapes.

Food Supplies in Jeopardy

The reason CCD raises alarm is Earth’s food depends on pollination. Experts say that one of every three bites of food is a crop propagated by honey bees.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has determined that pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value from more than 90 commercial crops. Some crops, like almonds, are fully dependent on honey bee pollination and are threatened by the loss of honey bees.

The honey bees importance to agriculture is “far more than the value of the honey produced by the bees,” said beekeeper Kelley. “Pollination is the rental of bees,” she added.

A world without these underappreciated creatures would be a hungry and malnourished one. It’s often attributed to Albert Einstein that it would only take four years for man to follow them into extinction.

During the winter of 2006-2007, known as the Perfect Storm for Bees in the apiculture circle, honey bees are dying in large numbers with losses between 30 to 90 percent. According to USDA, 50 percent of all colonies were reportedly lost, demonstrating symptoms inconsistent with mite damage or other known causes of honey bee death. Preliminary survey results by the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), which is overseeing much research, were released in March 2009 and the average operational loss of colonies increased from 31% in 2007/2008 to 34.2% in the 2008/2009.

“The rate of loss remains unsustainable,” the report said.

Numerous Benefits in Bee Hives

“honey bees provide long-term food security for everything,” because they are the most aggressive pollinators on Earth, said Kelley.

Honey is a food and healer with virtually limitless shelf life and bee pollen is the only natural food with all 22 amino acids humans need. Royal Jelly, another product of the hive, is a used as a dietary supplement, in age fighting, and fertility treatment.
 
Bee stings are also beneficial, Kelley said. They raise natural cortisone levels and benefit immune systems. Those with diseases like MS receive honey bee stings regularly and some with severe arthritis will take a sting to make mobility more comfortable.

Chemical Dangers

Kelley believes that “the dangers to the honey bee are man-made and are literally threatening the existence of this important and peaceful creature,” she said.

A bee sent by the Barnstable County Beekeepers Association to Tufts University for testing last year was found to have more than 37 unnatural chemicals, she said.

While USDA’s Action Plan noted that beekeeping operations suggested the possibility of a pathogen, (some beekeepers were placing the abandoned or “dead out” hive boxes on top of boxes containing strong colonies and shortly after, the strong colonies suffered CCD,) the agency also said that a new class of insecticides, neonicotinoids, is broadly and commonly used in most cropping systems and on turf and forest pests.

The plan further noted that a compound in this class, Imidacloprid, was banned in France “because it is acutely toxic to bees.” USDA-funded research in North Carolina suggested that fungicides synergize the effect of neonicotinoids 1,000-fold and that Imidacloprid has been found in corn, sunflower, and rape pollen at levels high enough to harm bees.

Conventional household cleaners also contain chemicals found in affected bees, and it may be a combination of several factors, toxins and malnutrition from genetically weakened and inferior crops, which are causing CCD.

That is why Kelley advocates for green cleaning as a top priority in the fight to save bees and she recommends cleaning with baking soda, lemon, and white vinegar.

What You Can Do at Home

Despite being allergic to bees, “I work with plants daily and see there are less natural pollinators in nature as time passes.  I am a beekeeper because I love to eat vegetables and I believe I have more apples on my trees thanks to honey bees…I see the urgency of keeping honey bees alive & healthy to benefit all living creatures,” said Kelley. At home, she recommends:

• Planting gardens full of flowers and plants, season after season, which gives pollinators food to survive on. 
• Planting herbs in gardens or outdoor pots to help bees feed themselves.
• Planting and maintaining an organic garden for your family’s vegetables and fruits.
• Using only green cleaning agents and refrain from using pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and other poisons on homes and gardens.
• Use only natural soaps and personal care products for health and vanity.
• Keep bees!

Going a Step Further

USDA materials say that habitat loss from farming and urban developments is also causing decline in native bees. “We can increase bee populations by providing extra pollen and nectar resources (i.e., appropriate flowers), at least in gardens and in some farm crops,” said USDA, which is also proposing utilizing Federal and state wildlands to save native pollination resources.

Earlier this year Colorado biologist Aaron Hirsh wrote in the New York Times as a guest columnist for The Wild Side that restoring “a feral honey bee population distributed across a broad network of patches would harbor genetic diversity and inhabit a wide variety of environments—a wise insurance policy against problems with domestically bred hives.”

Kelley said because of the lack of native bees, hers are imported from Italy, shipped from Maryland to her beekeeping association. A hive is 5,000 workers and a queen. In the summer, she will lay 2,000 eggs per day and a strong hive will achieve more than 75,000 bees in a season.

To learn more download MAAREC’s Beekeeping Basics, go to Backyardbeehive.com, and read Beekeeping Basics by Mother Earth News.

Kelley’s Beekeeping Tips:

• Do not “smoke” bees to work around them and always wear a bee suit.
• Feed bees only natural foods.
• Refrain from using any preventative measures in bee hives.
• Plant Flowers that Attract honey bees:
  Crocus, Pussy Willow, Myrtle, Grape Hyacinth, Red Maple, Heath, Rhododendron, Dandelion, Weeping Willow, Crabapple, Cortland Apple, Beach Plum, Barberry, Sassafras, Wisteria, Privet, Raspberry, Foxglove, Cranberry, Linden, Evening primrose, Yarrow, White Clover, Thistle, Mountain Laurel, Red Clover, Elderberry, Milkweed, Lavender, Hydrangea, Choke Cherry, Day Lily, Cucumber, Cosmos, Verbena, Morning Glory, Fennel, Rose-of-Sharon, Bee Balm, Oregano, Echinacea, Goldenrod, Trumpet Vine, Sunflower, Phlox, Autumn Clematis, Sedum, Aster, Chrysanthemum, and many more.

CCD Symptoms:

• Sudden loss of the colony’s adult bee population with very few bees found near the dead colonies.
• Several frames with healthy, capped brood with low levels of parasitic mites, indicating that colonies were relatively strong shortly before the loss of adult bees and that the losses cannot be attributed to a recent infestation of mites.
• Food reserves that have not been robbed, despite active colonies in the same area, suggesting avoidance of the dead colony by other bees.
• Minimal wax moth or small hive beetle damage.
• A laying queen often present with a small cluster of newly emerged attendants.

For more on the plight of the bees, go to Kelley’s Beefuture.com and Helpthehoney bees.com, a collaborative campaign by Penn State and Haagen-Dazs with support from MAAREC and University of California, Davis.

Click here f or a summary on Federal action to address CCD.

Honey as Medicine
by Laura Kelley

The medicinal benefits of honey have been attributed to its antibacterial and antifungal properties. Honey also enhances the immune system, reduces inflammation, stimulates cell growth, and provides antioxidant activity.

Honey’s mode of action in suppressing microbes is far different and more natural than that of antibiotics. It actually freezes bacteria in time, which prevents them from spreading. When antibiotics are taken by the mouth, they kill all flora in the gastrointestinal tract, both good and bad. Such indiscriminate killing can throw the whole system off balance! Our bodies contain beneficial microbes, which are less affected by honey than they are antibiotics.

Uses for honey:

1. Wounds
2. Burns

Wounds and burns dressed with honey heal faster because there is no tearing of newly grown issue when dressings are changed.  Most wounds heal best in a moist environment, yet a moist environment is conducive to bacterial growth, but honey’s antibacterial properties solve this conundrum, making it a superior dressing.

3. Stomach problems, including ulcers
4. Diarrhea
5. Eyes, skin, and hair
6. Athletic performance
7. Teas, meads, and honey ale

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