From the Editor, Jerry Hayes
From Jerry
I live in Ohio now. And what I am about to say pertains to most of the states I have heard from. Honey bees are not appreciated and they are undervalued simply because honey bee biology and good beekeepers always have a supply of honey bees to pollinate most everything in a 2.5 mile radius of their colony. As you all know, if managed honey bees ceased to exist today, pollinator dependent agriculture would fail. ‘Other’ bees are great but they cannot be managed to provide the numbers needed. So, since the only thing that matters to most businesses and government is money, I took some time to research the dollar value of honey bees in Ohio.
I think you all need to do this for your state. Do it and we’ll publish it in Bee Culture.
Value of Honey Bees to Ohio Agriculture
To date, Ohio has 51,252 colonies for three square miles of foraging per colony = 153,756 square miles of pollination service to 14 million acres of farmland and wild plants (which in turn provide food, harborage and nesting sites for wildlife).
Pollinators are the means by which 70% of plants can reproduce or provide food. According to the United Nations Environment Program, of the 100 crop varieties that provide 90% of the world’s food, 71 are pollinated by bees. In North America, honey bees alone pollinate nearly 95 kinds of fruits, such as almonds, avocados, cranberries and apples, in addition to commodity crops like soybean, canola and sunflower and seed crops.
The health of pollinators is directly linked to food security. Pollination services are a core component of global agricultural production, valued at over $125 billion annually. In the U.S., the value of pollination services is estimated to be $20-30 billion annually. In Ohio, the value of honey bees’ pollination of the crops below can be estimated as of data collected in 2019-2020 census. Take a look. And this is just from Ohio.
Fruit
Apples – $20.6 million on 3,400 acres of farmland
Peaches – $1.8 million on 640 acres
Strawberries – $3.9 million on 600 acres
Total $26.3 million on 4,640 acres
Vegetables
Cucurbits – $7 million cucumbers on 5,000 acres
Squash – $12.9 million on 1,800 acres
Pumpkins- $14.3 million on 438,000 acres
Total $34.2 million on 444,800 acres
Total Fruits + Vegetables alone= $60.5 million on 449,440 acres
Soybeans – $3 billion on 4.9 million acres
Hay and forage – $812 million on 1.720 million acres
Honey sales – $3,477,000 (2019)
Plus pollination of seed and oil crops, floriculture, backyard gardens, woods and fields, parks and preserves.
https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/304/pollinators-and-pesticides/impacts-on-the-food-supply
Whole Foods Market University Heights’ produce department with and without items dependent on pollinator populations. (PRNewsFoto/Whole Foods Market)
Who is at fault?
QUESTION
Hello,
I read your article about how the number of beehives are not dwindling. That is good to know. Thank you for the hard work you and the others do and continue to do pollinating our food.
I’m hoping you can help answer a “simple” question I’m researching to help save bees. I recently watched “The Pollinators” on the WaterBear Network.
There was a part in the film where some of the bees died because a neighboring farm (knowingly or not) used pesticides while bees were pollinating a farm nearby.
I’m wondering if there is a system in place for commercial bee pollination that allows farmers to know when and where bees will be pollinating so that they know not to use pesticides before or while the bees are there?
Or is it simply word of mouth and a code of honor that farmers do not use pesticides while bees are in the area?
Any information would help. Thank you for your time and energy in advance.
Blake
ANSWER
First thing is for applicators, both agricultural and beekeepers, to follow LABEL Directions, then to be honest, ethical and truthful.
Next is the State Dept. of Agriculture as overseer and regulator, which includes the State Apiary Inspection program, https://apiaryinspectors.org/
Then the organization below is trying to help and fill in the gaps. It has several different segments.
https://fieldwatch.com/
All that to say it takes all of us working together.
I hope this helps.
Where are they coming from?
QUESTION
Varroa Mites.
I live in the Pacific Northwest, Woodway Washington to be exact, and have been beekeeping for 16 years. My hives have ranged from about five to 15 over the years, depending on oh so many factors. This year, I began treating my hives with Formic Pro in early August. I had not seen any mites on my bees, no deformed wings and very little mite activity in the brood chamber (I test all hives by removing brood and looking at the developing brood and brood cell, mainly drones but also worker brood). I wanted to get ahead of Fall as all my honey is mostly off. To my surprise and horror, I started to see a massive amount of mite drop in the first 24 hours, hundreds in all the hives! I was shocked and had not seen this much drop while not seeing any signs of mites in the hive. I continue to see mite drop, though slowing down considerably.
Question: where are all the mites coming from? Am I missing signs of mites in some other way?
Thank you for all you do in answering questions and contributing to Bee Culture.
Mike Quinn
ANSWER
Those Varroa mites are coming from your bees predominately. Not to appear as not supportive or grumpy, but your ‘sampling’ method for ascertaining the percentage of Varroa mites in your colony is simply poor. But, don’t feel alone, you are not. ALL colonies have Varroa. But just looking at developing drone or worker brood tells you little at this time of the year as brood production slows as Winter approaches. With less brood to reproduce on, the adult Varroa will be exposed called phoretic on adult bees in the colony. The standard ‘best’ method to sample for Varroa is an alcohol wash, which means collecting a small number of bees in a designed container with rubbing alcohol and ‘washing the sample’ (really just a biopsy of the colony). The alcohol removes the mites riding on and around the adult honey bees so you can then count the number of mites per the 300 bees or so in the sample, and come up with a number. Currently, if there are more than three mites per 100 bees after your count and calculation that colony is dead, it just doesn’t know it yet.
And this sampling should be done multiple times per year so as to gauge the Varroa population throughout the seasons. Sampling in and around the first of August will give you an idea of Varroa numbers as the colony prepares for Winter. Winter honey bees live longer than Summer bees and their health is very important because they are not being replaced as often as Summer bees. With the Varroa and Varroa Virus Legacy, having healthy Winter bees produced is the goal. That means less Varroa.
Please Google up (or use the QR code to the right) ‘Tools for Varroa Management Guide’ from the HBHC (Honey Bee Health Coalition). Read and memorize the whole document, but take a look starting at page seven for ‘Sampling’ options.
Hang in there. If it were easy, everybody would be a beekeeper.
Can I use honey?
QUESTION
Good Morning Jerry,
I generate enough honey during the year to mix some in my home made pollen patties. The honey is always from my own apiary. Do you see any risks of spreading pathogens, virus and/or other diseases by adding honey to my patties? So that you have perspective, each patty contains a pint of honey and a pint of Mannlake’s Prosweet 77 high fructose corn syrup with Ultra Bee pollen mixed to desired consistency.
Thank you,
Erich
ANSWER
Let me be a bit of a pain here.
Are your colonies completely sterile and free of bacteria, bacterial spores, fungal/mold spore, viruses and who knows what else? Healthy honey bee colonies can be exposed to disease causing organisms if they are ‘healthy’. Just like us, we are exposed to a plethora of viruses, bacteria and fungus/mold each and every minute at home, work and the Big Box store. If you are rested, have proper nutrition and your immune system is functioning properly, we can deal with these without showing disease symptoms. But if we aren’t, we can get COVID, Flu, Tetanus, wound infections etc.
All that to say, if you do not have any recognizable disease issues in the colony you are sharing honey from, and the colony you are putting this material in is healthy, you should be okay. But if not… it’s a gamble… isn’t it? Your call.
