CCD and Migratory Beekeeping in Greece

Most of the movement of colonies in Greece tends to be to wildflowers 
such as oxalis, spurge, thyme, sage, heather and chestnut - but the 
major operations are concentrated in the mountains where pine and fir 
trees are dominant and where there is no ground flora - 60% of Greek 
honey comes from honeydew alone. Beekeepers may take their colonies to 
citrus growing regions where spraying is more likely to occur, maybe 
cotton too, but the amount of the latter has diminished enormously. As 
regards  pumpkins, melons, water melons and courgettes, these are 
generally grown by smallholders without large acreages of land and 
there is little likelihood of such growers offering pollination 
contracts to make the migration worthwhile.

I lost 35 out of 40 colonies with CCD symptoms 4 years ago and I live 
in an area where only olives are cultivated. There are no flowers 
beneath the olive trees when any spraying is done, but more and more 
groves are being turned over to organic methods.  If my colonies had  
any residues from pesticides, then the pesticides must have persisted 
in the soil (from later summer spraying of olives) and been absorbed by 
the flowers the bees foraged on the following spring.

John Phipps









and the first record of imidacloprid (neonicotonoid) residues in Greek
>> honey bee tissues.
>
> Yes!
>
> The question is are the residues showing up because of long term 
> expose?
>
> The bees in the U.S. are sick and researchers have been at a lost to 
> explain
> why. Honey yields are down in most areas while honey plants are 
> numerous.
> Winter loss is rising.
>
> Neonicotinoid residues (first reported) is a significant finding. In my
> opinion if looked for in the U.S. those same residues would be found 
> in some
> migratory operations.
>
> Why migratory?
> Not rocket science as these are the hives going into the areas of
> neonicotinoid use.
>
> Plenty of smoke around the issue and now we find a bit of fire!
>
> bob
>
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John Phipps
Editor: The Beekeepers Quarterly
Neochori, Agios Nikolaos,
Messinias, Greece 24024
webpage: www.iannisphoto.com

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