Honeybee deaths reaching crisis point (1/3 lost this year)

Alison Benjamin
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday August 12 2008 15:59 BST



Britain's honeybees have suffered catastrophic losses this year, according to a survey of the nation's beekeepers, contributing to a shortage of honey and putting at risk the pollination of fruits and vegetables.

The survey by the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) revealed that nearly one in three of the UK's 240,000 honeybee hives did not survive this winter and spring.

The losses are higher than the one in five colonies reported dead earlier this year by the government after 10% of hives had been inspected.

The BBKA president, Tim Lovett, said he was very concerned about the findings: "Average winter bee losses due to poor weather and disease vary from between 5% and 10%, so a 30% loss is deeply worrying. This spells serious trouble for pollination services and honey producers."

more:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/12/conservation.wildlife1

I have not heard much.

but anecdotally, I have not seen a single honeybee this summer. Not. One.

I live in Wa.state and have seen many honey bees this year as compared to none last year.I was hoping that was a good sign.I'm not happy to hear that it may not be.

I hope so - that would be a good sign for elsewhere.

developed by the Bayer Corp. Weird that this is not mentioned here.

No squash even though we had some beautiful plants.