Honey Bees Dies as Alarm

Honey bees has beekeepers fighting for commercial survival and crop growers wondering whether bees will be available to pollinate their crops this spring and summer. A working group of university faculty researchers, state regulatory officials, cooperative extension educations and industry representatives is working to identify the cause or causes of Colony collapse Disorder and to develop management strategies and recommendations for bookkeepers.

Initial studies of dying colonies revealed a large number of diseases organisms present, with no one diseases being identified as the culprit.

In total, honey bee pollination contributes about $55 million to the value of crops in the state. Beside apples, crops that depend at least in part of honey bee pollination include peaches, soybeans, pears, pumpkins, cucumbers, cherries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.