http://www.americanhoneyproducers.org/Articles/Ron-Phipps-12-1-2009.pdf

Apart from the Honey economics, this came upfront to me:


Bee Conditions
In addition to concerns regarding the volatility of weather patterns,
concerns persist regarding the health and vitality of the bee population in
the U.S.A. During September and October, several large beekeepers reported
significant and unexpected losses of bees. For example, in South Dakota a
beekeeper who had 6,000 hives that were vigorous during clover bloom, found
only 200 hives active and well. The bees from the other hives just
disappeared and did not return to their hives. As acreage that was
previously pasture land has been converted to corn (for ethanol) and soybean
production, there has been a concurrent surge in application of pesticides
administered by planes and helicopters that regularly sweep across the
fields now spraying potent pesticides on corn and soybeans. The hypothesis
is that these pesticides may be affecting the brains of the bees and their
navigation systems. As cultivated crops encroach upon and increasingly
surround pasturelands and the remaining wild fields, pesticide induced
damage to bees looms as a growing problem. Similar problems exist for the
application of toxic pesticides on the extensive citrus groves in Florida.
Since the health of bees and the broader interests of agriculture are so
inextricably bound together, an integrated macro solution will be required
to protect agricultural interests.
During Apimondia, I had occasion to talk with several scientists who are
experts on bee health. One professor from Sao Paulo University in Brazil,
who has been studying Africanized bees for decades, had several relevant
observations from his scientific studies of Africanized bees. On the one
hand, these bees are not only good propagators, but they are highly
resistant to disease. This is one underlying reason Brazil can produce the
world’s largest quantities of organic honey. But the Africanized bees are
very sensitive to and become anxious under conditions of darkness and
chaotic noise. Such stress can increase their vulnerability to pathogens and
pesticides. Mono-flora source diets during the short life-span of worker
bees may also contribute to abnormal stress and subsequent vulnerability to
disease. When we think about these scientific studies in the context of
modern large scale agro-business and modern migratory beekeeping practices
that transport bees over large distances as the bees emerge from winter
stress, the variables and environmental factors that may affect colony
collapse disorder may come into sharper focus.

-- 
Juanse Barros J.
APIZUR S.A.
Carrera 695
Gorbea - CHILE
+56-45-271693
08-3613310
http://apiaraucania.blogspot.com/
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