Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious bee ailment that has led to the disappearance of millions of bees in the United States alone, “and in a worst-case scenario could be a threat to the food chain that humans depend on for life, has made its way to Utah,” according to a report yesterday in The Salt Lake Tribune.

Until recently, however, the state of Utah seemed to be successfully dodging CCD.

The Tribune story tells of commercial beekeeper Gary Dutson, whose family has kept bees for more than 70 years. He built up to 4000 hives last fall , then unexplained die-offs cost him half of the colonies. As a result, Dutson says he has had to sell of 500 acres of the family farm.

The replacement cost of the lost colonies is estimated at $130,000 USD, and Dutson says he has just barely enough hives to meet his pollination commitments to the Utah orchards. Any further losses may put him out of business.

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Chris Maund, Integrated Pest Management Specialist (Entomologist) and Provincial Apiarist for New Brunswick, tells us that winter losses for the province’s beekeepers are significantly down from the last couple of years, averaging around 20-25% for colonies over-wintered outdoors and 15-20% for those indoors.

Please note that these are preliminary averages and the amounts may change as more people are able to inspect their hives.

Here’s something light for a weekend…

Urban Honey is a 4-minute documentary video by student filmmaker Matt Fisher, about an unconventional San Francisco man who keeps bees in his urban backyard.

Jon Rolston originally wanted to raise chickens, but thought they might attract rats and rile up the neighbours… so he settled for a hive of bees. Rolston’s approach to apiculture, not to mention some of his beekeeping methods, may raise a few eyebrows among more experienced beekeepers, but the video itself is nicely crafted with some beautiful close-up shots of the backyard hive.

Enjoy!

Thanks to Michael Martine for spotting this video and sending in the link.

As if American beekeepers didn’t have enough to deal with in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD — the mysterious syndrome blamed for devastating losses of honeybees in the United States last year), now there’s a new threat to their hives: crooked humans. A nationwide bee shortage resulting from CCD means demand far outweighs supply for this pollination season, pushing the cost of hive rental as high as $200 in some locations, according to a Business Week report — the kind of money that means crime does pay.

“If you can get 50 strong healthy hives on a medium sized truck and get them to a grower who is desperate for bees in his orchard,” says Kim Flottum, “you can make yourself some good money. At $150/colony, that truckload of bees amounts to $7,500 for a couple hours work. Not a bad night’s haul.”

Beekeepers know that it’s a challenge enough to do the rounds of distant bee yards for the normal purposes of hive maintenance and inspection — imagine trying to arrange round-the-clock protection for those hives sent out to pollination, isolated in the middle of enormous orchards where they may rest unattended for days at a time.

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We know that beekeeping has been changing rapidly in recent years, but how much do we know about the care and management of honey bees as it was practised a century ago?

One hundred years of beekeeping in Nova Scotia, Canada. A brief history as presented at the Nova Scotia Beekeepers’ Association annual meeting, March 2000. Includes an interview with the late G.G. Smeltzer (in Part 2). This video is dedicated to his memory.

Thanks to Dick Rogers of Wildwood Labs for making available this 3-part presentation, Beekeeping in Transition, via Google Video. To view the videos, make sure your computer’s speakers are turned on, then click the small arrow at the bottom left of each video-player below:

Beekeeping History Video 1

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