Transcript Decline in and Value of Honeybees

Colony Collapse Disorder
Why should we care about the loss of honey bees?
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By Adam Formica, Rowan Finnegan,Rachel Goodman
Left:http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/files/2008/04/honeycomb1.jpg
Right: http://tokyogreenspace.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/white_house_bee2_hive.jpg
Definition and
Causes
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IAPV
Varroa mite
Pesticides
Stress
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Image:http://media.photobucket.com/image/sick%20bee%20colony/wee-mama-xyz/ColonyCollapseDisorder.jpg
Table: vanEngelsdorp, Dennis, Hayes, Jerry Jr., Underwood, Robyn M., and Jerry Pettis. (2008, December 30). A Survey of Honey Bee Colony
Losses in the U.S., Fall 2007 to Spring 2008. PlosOne 3(12), Article e4071.
Decline in and Value of Honeybees
• Long-term decline since 1950s
• Industry in decline
• Natural pollinators in decline
• CCD exacerbates downward trend in 2006
• Honeybees contribute to 1/3 of the food we eat
• McGregor, S.E. 1976. Insect Pollinations of Cultivated Crop
Plants. US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook
496.
• “The Value of the World’s Ecosystem Services and
Natural Capital”
• Service of pollination valued at $117 billion
worldwide
Decline of Colonies in the US
Source: Honey, February, 2007, Agricultural Statistics Board, NASS, USDA,
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/Hone/Hone-02-28-2007.pdf
Bees in the Context of Ecosystems
• European honeybee colonies brought to Americas
in the 16th Century
• Few bee species used for pollination in intensive
agriculture – Apis mellifera
• Bees one of over a 100,000 species that pollinate
flowers – bats, birds, insects etc.
• Wild bee species absent in wall-to-wall agriculture
because of habitat loss
• Restructuring Agriculture/Conservation Planning:
mosaic farms, hedgerows, insectary strips, multicropping
Mono-Cropping
Commercial Beekeeping
Organic Farm Bat Pollination
Economic Impact
• Estimates range from two to four hundred billion.
The journal of Ecological Economics placed the
value of pollination services at 153 billion1 (~$228
billion).
• 200 countries, based on the FAO 100 primary food
crops used for human consumption.
• 87 crops are pollinator dependent with different
dependence ratios
• The true impact is difficult to assess due to the
scope of the impact and difficult correlations.
• Feed crops -Alfalfa
• Plants used for Ethanol