Around the Colony : 7 BBKA Winter Survival Survey
The results of the BBKA’s 2012/13 annual winter survival survey show that the number of honey bee colonies lost over the winter was more than double that of the previous year, with all regions in England showing increased losses. On average 33.8 colonies in every 100 were lost compared with 16.2 in the winter of 2011/2012. The losses principally reflect the impact of the poor and changeable weather during 2012 continuing into 2013 and exacerbated by the late arrival of spring. It is feared that the situation may have worsened since the survey closed at the end of March given the ongoing poor weather. The poor summer of 2012 meant that honey bees were regularly prevented from gathering pollen and nectar and when they could go out there was a general scarcity of forage throughout the season. Virgin queens were unable to mate properly leading them to become drone-laying queens, causing those colonies affected to die out. The survey of BBKA members measures the number of their colonies that survived the winter to 31 March 2013 compared with the number alive at 1 October 2012.
The survey was open to 2500 randomly selected BBKA Registered Members who were requested to complete the survey forms with data on 31 March 2013. Of the 937 forms returned, data were analysed from 846. The difference in the numbers was mainly due to the respondent not having kept any bees during the survey period. The analysis by region is based on the regional areas in England used by Fera Bee Inspectors.
Impact of Bees on Food Availability
In an effort to promote awareness about declining bee populations and their potential impact on food availability in the USA, workers at University Heights Whole Foods temporarily removed all produce that comes from plants dependent on pollinators to illustrate the point. This resulted in the removal of 237 out of 453 products – 52% of the normal product mix.
UK Bee Insecticide Study Flawed
The field study cited by British government as evidence that neonicotinoids cause little harm to bees has ‘several weaknesses’, says the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Environment Secretary Owen Paterson asked the European Commission to wait for the results of UK field trials before the vote to ban neonicotinoids.
Winter losses of honey bee colonies in England over the last six years
Winter
Colonies lost %
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 30.5 18.7 17.7 13.6 16.2 33.8
Survey results by English region Region (England)
Actual % Loss Winter 2011/12
Actual % Loss Winter 2012/13
Increased loss in percentage points compared with previous year
Eastern North East Northern South East South West Southern Western 20.0 15.9 11.7 19.3 14.7 15.4 14.5
When the results were finally released, EFSA identified a number of weaknesses in the study. Given these weaknesses, the Authority considers that the study does not affect the conclusions reached by EFSA regarding risks for bees related to the use of the neonicotinoid pesticides thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid. EFSA made the following points regarding the relevance of the study to the risk assessments published by the authority: • The study looked at only one crop – oilseed rape – and two plant protection products authorised for use in the UK. Furthermore, the test sites and surrounding
29.8 38.2 46.4 32.4 52.9 26.9 28.3 9.8 22.3 34.7 12.9 38.2 11.5 13.8
areas used reflected a small sample of agricultural conditions in the UK and cannot be considered representative of conditions elsewhere in the EU.
• Two important routes of exposure – dust and guttation – were not addressed by the study.
• In its assessments, EFSA reached conclusions mainly for honey bees and identified a data gap for other pollinators. Field studies of bumblebees cannot be used to understand the risks to honey bees and other pollinators because of species differences.
August 2013 Vol 95 No 8
www.bee-craft.com
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