A survey of managed honey bee colony losses in the USA, fall 2009 to winter 2010
- 1 January 2011
- journal article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Journal of Apicultural Research
- Vol. 50 (1), 1-10
- https://doi.org/10.3896/ibra.1.50.1.01
Abstract
This study records the fourth consecutive year of high winter losses in managed honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in the USA. Over the winter of 2009–2010, US beekeepers responding to this survey lost an average of 42.2% of their colonies, for a total loss of 34.4%. Commercial beekeepers (those operating more than 500 colonies) experienced lower total losses as compared to sideline and backyard beekeepers. Similarly, operations that maintained colonies in more than one state and operations that pollinated almond orchards over the survey period had lower total losses than operations either managing colonies in one state exclusively or those not pollinating almonds. On average beekeepers consider acceptable losses to be 14.5%, and 65% of all responding beekeepers suffered losses in excess of what they considered acceptable. The proportion of operations that experienced losses and reported having no dead bees in their colonies or apiaries was comparable to that reported in the winter of 2008–2009. Manageable conditions, such as starvation and a weak condition in the fall were the leading self-identified causes of mortality as reported by all beekeepers. Commercial beekeepers were, however, less likely to list such manageable causes, instead listing poor queens, mites, and pesticides most frequently as the self-identified causes of mortality in their operations. Este estudio documenta el cuarto año consecutivo de altas pérdidas invernales en las colmenas de abejas manejadas (Apis mellifera) en los EE.UU. Durante el invierno de 2009–2010, los apicultores de EE.UU. que respondieron a este estudio, perdieron un promedio del 42,2% de sus colmenas, siendo la pérdida total de un 34,4%. Los apicultores comerciales (los que operan con más de 500 colmenas) experimentaron pérdidas totales menores en comparación a los apicultores aficionados y sin organización. Del mismo modo, las operaciones que mantienen a las colmenas en más de un estado y las operaciones de polinización de almendros en el período de muestreo tuvieron menos pérdidas totales que las operaciones que mantienen a las colmenas en un estado exclusivamente o a las que no polinizaron almendros. Como media los apicultores consideraron que una pérdida aceptable era del 14,5%, y el 65% de todos los apicultores respondieron haber sufrido pérdidas superiores a lo que consideraban como aceptable. La proporción de operaciones que experimentaron pérdidas y que informaron de no tener abejas muertas en sus colmenas o apiarios fue comparable a la documentada en el invierno de 2008–2009. Las condiciones de manejo, tales como la inanición y una condición débil en el descenso fueron las principales causas auto-identificadas de la mortalidad según lo informado por todos los apicultores. Los apicultores comerciales fueron, sin embargo, menos críticos al listar las causas de manejo, en su lugar, auto- identificaron a las reinas malas, a los ácaros y a los pesticidas como las causas más probables de la mortalidad en sus operaciones.Keywords
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