Honey Bees Not Healthy in U. S. or U. K.

“We’re very close to the breaking point of what’s enough and what’s not enough. Honey bees are not healthy.”

- Jerry Hayes, President, Apiary Inspectors of America

“Our lawsuit is to uncover critical information that the U. S. government is withholding about the risks posed by nicotine-based pesticides to honey bees. EPA should be evaluating the risks to bees before approving new pesticides, but now refuses to tell the public what it knows.”

- Aaron Colangelo, NRDC Sr. Attorney

Western honey bees, or European honey bees (Apis mellifera), are still weak, unhealthy and continue to disappear in massive numbers since Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) was identified in the fall of 2006. At least one-third of all the commercial honey bee colonies in the United States and United Kingdom have collapsed as of 2008. There might not be enough pollinators for the 2009 season, forcing food growers to seek out other pollinators in Australia, Argentina and perhaps even the Africanized bees based in Mexico that have spread north into the southern United States. Honey bee image © 2007 by Matt Cardy/Getty. — Western honey bees, or European honey bees (*Apis mellifera*), are still weak, unhealthy and continue to disappear in massive numbers since Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) was identified in the fall of 2006. At least one-third of all the commercial honey bee colonies in the United States and United Kingdom have collapsed as of 2008. There might not be enough pollinators for the 2009 season, forcing food growers to seek out other pollinators in Australia, Argentina and perhaps even the Africanized bees based in Mexico that have spread north into the southern United States. Honey bee image © 2007 by Matt Cardy/Getty.

August 31, 2008 Gainesville, Florida - It was 18 months ago in February 2007 at Earthfiles that I reported my first interviews with Penn State and University of Pennsylvania scientists about honey bee disappearances that came to be known as “Colony Collapse Disorder,” or CCD. [ See: 022307 Earthfiles.] I also interviewed David Hackenberg, a beekeeper from Pennsylvania, about his massive disappearance of honey bees. That fall of 2006, Dave Hackenberg lost 60% of his bee colonies; in 2007 he lost 80% of his bees and went into debt to stay in business. He told me, “I am trying to stay as far away from all those nicotine-based chemicals as I can.” He had become convinced that those pesticides (such as Imidicloprid and Clothianidin) were the main problem in the disappearance of his bees.

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