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38% OF BEE COLONIES LOST THIS WINTER, HIGHEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN
Jun. 21, 2019
Agri-Pulse reports:
Beekeepers lost nearly 38% of their colonies this past winter, the highest level of loss since the "Bee Informed Partnership" began conducting a survey in 2006-2007.
The winter loss is a jump of 7 percentage points compared to last year's survey and an increase of 8.9 points since the survey began. For the April 2018-April 2019 period, however, the survey showed a 40.1% loss rate, similar to last year's annual loss estimate of 40.1%, but slightly higher (2.9 percentage points) than the average annual rate of loss, 37.8%, reported by beekeepers since 2010-11.
Varroa mites are still the top concern for beekeepers, according to the partnership, but there are other factors involved, including land use changes and pesticide usage, says Dennis vanEngelsdorp, associate professor of entomology at the University of Maryland and president of the partnership.
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