Wednesday's activity revolved around beekeeping. Last year, Riverview had a total of 13 colonies of bees (kept offsite) that were newly started. Unfortunately, 8 of those colonies died, one from starvation, a few from dysentery, some from sudden colony collapse, and some from mites. Tragic.

The contraption was a series of tall drawers that fit about 6 vertical sheets of wood maybe a foot-and-a-half tall. The drawers could be stacked on each other, and pulled out to remove or view the wood inside that eventually becomes layered with honeycomb.

We were taught by Hava and Oren how to sort through the drawers filled with honey comb from the colonies that had died. After scraping off dead bees, mold, and the remains of waste (especially from dysentery afflicted colonies) we assessed the amounts of honey, wax, pollen, etc. and sorted them accordingly.

The sheets filled with honey were put aside for extraction; those with some honey, and some pollen (characterized by the darker color inside the combs) were left to be fed back to the colonies at a later date. Those without very much honey or pollen will be used to make candles from their wax once scraped.

Sometime (tentatively the first Wednesday of May) there will be a city council meeting regarding whether to allow Riverview and other residents or local groups in Appleton to raise bees. With sufficient space and training, beekeeping is completely safe and beneficial—and not just to the beekeepers themselves. Bees are important pollinators and increase crop yields and flower fertilization in up to about a two mile radius of their hive. Plus; a growing concern among environmentalists is the huge decline of bee populations throughout the United States in the wild. Starting colonies which can break off to form new colonies is an excellent way to help remedy this problem.

Bee Decline:
Although most beekeepers and farmers have been aware of it for a long time, it was only in the last few years that the United Nations Environment Program added to the voices cautioning about bee population decline. They note that the declining bee populations in Europe and North America are following a similar trend in China, Japan, and possibly even Egypt and other parts of Africa.

There’s a lot of ideas and theories about why bee populations is declining. Chances are, it has multiple causes that work together.

Insecticides:
According to Michael Wines of the New York Times in an article titled, “Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms” (March 31^st, 2013) The growth of a particular type of insecticide called  neonicotinoids are to blame. The American Bird Conservatory certainly seems to agree as they published a review of 200 studies, many of which were industry research, obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act (I find that added detail particularly interesting. Maybe someday I’ll go more into depth about how that works.) Their meta-analysis called for a ban on neonicotinoids used as seed treatments based on their toxicity not only to birds, but other organisms as well (like bees and other pollinators.)
Also in March, the Environmental Protection Agency was sued for allegedly performing inadequate tests on these pesticides, and approving them despite extremely harmful side-effects. Groups who joined in the lawsuit against the EPA included a coalition of beekeepers and conservation and sustainable agriculture advocates.

Interesting fact: Germany, Italy, and France have all banned the use of neonicotinoids because of their potential threat to bees around the country (the Guardian.)

Another study, published in the Science magazine found that when bees consumed one pesticide, they suffered an 85% loss in the number of queens their nests produced. Another study found that bees exposed to pesticides had more trouble returning ‘home’ meaning they failed to come back from food-foraging trips.
Of course it should be mentioned that companies that produce and sell insecticides claim that when used correctly, there are no ill effects causing bee mortality and they have their own studies they use as backing. But environmentalists and others argue back that those studies are not in the public domain, cannot be scrutinized or peer evaluated, and are therefore not as convincing as other studies.

Too Few Flowers:

There’s some concern that the loss of flowering plant species might be responsible for some of the bee decline. I did not find any studies either affirming or negating this (it is a pretty hard cause to set up an experiment for, I would imagine) but it’s a great excuse to plant more flowers. Just about anything would be helpful.

Varroa Mite:

The Varroa Mite is a parasite which possibly might give beekeepers a fright keeping them up at night. Mites get into the cells of bees, preferably drones, and suck the ‘blood’ of the bees, weakening them. From there, they rapidly reproduce and spread and infect the rest of the colony. Studies have found that bees infested with the mite are more susceptible to CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder, for a quick refresher on what that is, refer to Jaffna’s last post) and infection.

Air Pollution:

Air Pollution is another factor that could be affecting bee populations. According to a study by the University of Virginia, air pollution might mess with a bees ability to ‘smell’ and find flowers and thus food. Pollutants such as ozone (smog) and nitrate radicals, often released from cars, can bind with ‘scent’ molecules and inhibit their ability to smell sweet. If bees can’t find the plants and flowers with nectar, not only does it hurt their hive, which might suffer from starvation, but it also has a huge impact on plants. Unfortunately, unpollinated plants can’t reproduce, and there are less flowering plant next year. Which leads to horrible cycle of less bees, less plants, etc.

It’s hard to tell people not to use their cars, but perhaps it’s best to be mindful and drive efficiently, carpool when you can, and ride your bike as much as possible. Don’t have a bike? Volunteer at Riverview this summer and you can take part in their earn-a-bike program! Guess what?! You’ll earn a bike!

Bee Importance:

The bees are needed to pollinate crops that feed the world's growing population. Of the 100 crop species that provide 90 percent of the world's food, more than 70 are pollinated by bees, according to  the UN.

Achim Steiner, the executive director of UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program) said: "The way humanity manages or mismanages its nature-based assets, including pollinators, will in part define our collective future in the 21st century. Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less dependent on nature's services in a world of close to seven billion people".

So spread the buzz!

Sources!

norfolk honey (picture)

beeguardian.org

Michael Wines of the New York Times

The Guardian

UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program)

Science Magazine

University of Virginia

Oren but mostly Hava