So this is a question for Chris and Kelly...
I've been hearing all over the place lately that there is some mysterious affliction affecting beehives. One friend of mine at work told me that she heard that cellphones may be responsible for interrupting the hives? Hope that yours are all OK!!!
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No one yet knows what is causing Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). It will be interesting to see what it is, right now the best estimates are that it is a combination of stressors. I have heard of the ecll phone thing too but am not placing much faith in that; we have been using those frequencies (at higher power) for a long time, long before there were cell phones. And why all of the sudden this year?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I checked my hive for the first time yesterday, because I figured they were at least starving from the late winter. Not only were they not starving the hive was already full of honey. And so far, no signs of disease at all such as the mightily feared mites.
This has been the norm I think for hobbyists, especially those who have gone "organic" (I am not necessarily an organic beekeeper, I am simply too lazy to use chemicals). So the theory I most agree with at this point is that the commercial operators who have reported 95% losses are those who most intensely "manage" their hives, ie with fogging sprays, feed them sugar water, transport them many miles, etc. Whatever the cause is, you can be sure honey will be a lot more expensive this year, and probably some fruits too.
This is one of the better articles I've seen: http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/living/17126598.htm
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight. It is crazy how many people are talking about bees - I have never heard of the problem except through word of mouth, which has been quite a bit lately.
ReplyDeleteGlad that your hive is a happy hive. Hope that they stay that way!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/science/24bees.html?ref=science
ReplyDeleteThis discussion made the NY Times...