Linda Moulton Howe:

One of the statistics that jumped out at me in your preliminary results of honey bee colonies losses in the U.S., winter 2009-2010” is the paragraph that states, “responding beekeepers attributed 32% of their losses to starvation. What does that 32% starvation mean?”

Jerry Hayes:

That means the beekeeper didn’t leave enough resources in the colony so they would have enough food to eat over winter. Or the bees were in a northern winter situation and the bees could not be fed carbohydrates and sugars to keep them alive because perhaps the weather was so cold that the bees ate up their food prematurely. For example, recently the Midwest had a very cold, rainy winter that did not allow bees to store surplus honey for use later on. That is one of the problems.

Beekeepers can certainly purchase sugar syrups to supplement feedings, but a lot of the beekeepers simply did not have money to do that. So, they crossed their fingers and some of them won and some of them lost.

LMH:

If I understand correctly, we in the united states are down now to one major crop, almonds in California, that are keeping the commercial honey bee industry going?

JH:

Yes, the commercial industry for sure. Honey production is not a moneymaker anymore with all the honey imports from third world countries. The cost to produce honey in Florida, for example, is about $1/pound. But honey is being brought into the United States, and specifically Florida as I know this region, for 50 to 60 cents a pound.

Source:
http://www.earthfiles.com/

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