DENVER-
A national die-off of bees first identified in November in Pennsylvania is devastating Colorado colonies.
About 30,000 colonies in Colorado have been hit by what researchers call colony collapse disorder, The Denver Post reported Sunday. It has been identified in 24 states.
“The map changes almost daily,” said Jerry Bromenshenk, president of Bee Alert Technology, a research company affiliated with the University of Montana. “Almost every time the phone rings, we say, ‘Is that another state calling in with a problem?”‘
The loss rate is 40 percent in some Colorado colonies—most winters it is from 2 to 10 percent. Some have vanished without a trace.
“It’s just bizarre,” said Jeff Theobald, who runs Grand Mesa Honey Farm in Delta. “I’ve had hives that had dead bees in them—4,000 to 5,000 dead bees—and hives that were completely empty. The bees were just gone.”
Major die-offs have occurred before but this is the worst in at least 40 years, beekeepers say.
“One day, you look at the bees and they’re good,” Bromenshenk said. “The next time you look in the box, you take a second look, pull the cover off, and you might have a queen and three young bees trying to keep things going. If it was a pesticide or a virus, you’d expect to find piles of dead bees in the box, and in the bee yard. But this looks like someone swept the bottom board clean.”
Researchers are trying to identify the cause of the disease killing the bees. Pesticides are blamed by some.
Lyle Johnston, a Rocky Ford commercial beekeeper who serves ranchers and farmers, said if the bees keep dying, fruit crops won’t get the pollination they need and suppliers will be forced to import fruit and vegetables from South America.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
