Subject: WHERE HAVE ALL THE HONEYBEES GONE?

From: [email-masked] (Andy Nachbaur)
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 20:35:00 GMT

How many times have you been asked about those "killer" bees? Well
in the last year or so that question has been superseded by the
new "WHERE HAVE ALL THE HONEYBEES GONE?".

For sure when you hear the question most all have at one time or
another ran out and checked for numbers of feral hives, or at least
gave it some thought. Just a minute,..What are we comparing these
numbers to? Feral hives have been in decline for years, and many
years before any beekeepers in the US had any concerns for any bee
mites, big or small. The biggest change I have seen in my own bee
yards the last 40 years is the reduction in swarming and this would
certainty mean a reduction in re-stocking of feral hive sites.

Maybe this is because of more hives in the area and less prime time
for the bees to work the short blooming cycles we have here in
central California, or it could bee we are better beekeepers and
are able to prevent swaRming because of changing stock or improved
beekeeping methods.

Who knows, I sure don't and I guess if we have a choice I would better
see the press of the masses touting the disappearance of feral honey
bees then harping on the "killer" bees. But it's only a matter of time
until someone blows the horn and connects the available of empty feral
honey bee sites to an open invitation for the so called "killer" bees
which are supposed to be a feral bee, if you want to believe the BS.
(bee science)
                          ttul OLd Drone

PS: Here is a page off of California's "SUNSET" Magazine internet site
    from a 1995 article I believe or at least 1995 information.
     _________________________________________________________________

                      WHERE HAVE ALL THE HONEYBEES GONE?

   If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Napa Valley, or the
   Monterey Bay area, your garden is one of the fortunate ones: it's
   probably still being visited by plenty of honeybees pollinating your
   crops and fruit trees. But it may not be for long.

   Up and down California, honeybees are being killed by the varroa mite.
   This 1/25-inch-long pest, which looks like a tiny crab, feeds
   primarily on developing honeybee larvae called brood, thus depleting a
   colony's work force. Honey production declines and the colony dies.
   When healthy honeybees raid weakened nests for honey, they pick up the
   mites and spread them to stronger colonies.

   The honeybee population in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearby
   counties is mostly feral, or wild. The mites have reduced colonies of
   these feral bees by only about 16 percent, according to a survey by UC
   Davis entomologist Robert Page. But in counties where beekeeping is
   substantial, around Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Riverside, feral
   colonies have almost disappeared.

   Page says the decline in Northern California will only get worse. One
   way gardeners can help maintain the feral honeybee population is by
   not spraying pesticides on bee-pollinated plants, such as melons,
   squash, and fruit trees, when there is a danger of killing bees. If
   you have to use insecticides like carbaryl (Sevin) that kill
   honeybees, spray in the evening when the bees aren't active.

   If you're a hobbyist beekeeper, you can treat colonies with a miticide
   containing fluvalinate (called Apistan), available from beekeeping
   supply companies.

   By Lauren Bonar Swezey
   Copyright Sunset Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.
     ---------------------------------------------------------

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