Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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The bee crisis has gained attention in recent years, but these and similar stories around the world illustrate just how serious the problem has become. Amid the research and speculation, the question remains: what is killing the bees, and what does it mean for the rest of us? Public awareness of the crisis and a thriving urban beekeeping movement are steps in the right direction, but they fall short of reversing the looming agricultur- al catastrophe. Honeybees are essentially canaries in a coal mine, the first warning sign of a much larger global problem. Early Warning Signs In 2006, a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder began making headlines with beekeepers reporting 30 to 90 percent losses in their hives. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Research Service defines CCD as a phenomenon in which few (or no) adult honeybees are present but there are no dead bodies either. The bees just disap- pear. But identifying the symptoms does not explain the cause or provide a solution. This much is known: In 1947 there were 6 million managed honeybee colo- nies in the U.S. Today, that number has dropped to 2.5 million. Historically, com- mercial beekeepers reported annual losses of 10 to 15 percent of their hives over the winter. Since 2006 the mortality rate has averaged 30 percent. This year was better nationwide—a 23 percent mortality rate, according to the Bee Informed Partnership, though the number differs state by state. Indiana has lost more than 65 percent of its bees in 2014. Other states, including Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Wyoming, West Virginia, New Hampshire, and New York had die-offs of more than 50 percent. Idaho and Hawaii, at 12 to 13 per- cent, had the best bee survival rates. California, the nation's bread basket and typically the top honey-producing state, had an overwinter die-off rate of just below 20 percent. The summer drought, how- ever, has been devastating for bees, due to bone-dry land devoid of wildf lower nectar. Predictions for honey production this year are less than half the normal level. Looking on a consumer economic level, the cost of honey has nearly doubled in the U.S. since 2006, from a retail price of $3.82 per pound to $6.40 in 2014, according to Bee Culture magazine. But honey is only one segment of the food industry being impacted. The situation is so serious that President Barack Obama established a fed- eral strategy to promote the health of bees and other pollinators, including birds, bats, and endangered Monarch butterf lies. The Food Supply Ripple Effect "You can thank a pollinator for one out of every three bites you eat," says Jepsen. "A lot of our high-value and really deli- cious crops—berries, tomatoes, apples, almonds—rely on insect pollination." Bees are the best of that group, which includes bats, butterf lies, beetles, moths, f lies, and wasps. They perform a critical function, actively collecting pollen from plants for their young to eat and moving pollen from one plant to another. If a farmer lacks pollinators for his strawberry fields, for instance, his entire harvest fails. To avoid that fate, farmers across the country truck in millions of migrant, commercial honeybees for a few days' work at sometimes triple the cost it used to be. As a result—although also due to fuel hikes—California almond pric- Insect-pollinated crops in the U.S. are worth $18 billion to $27 billion annually. Worldwide value is at $217 billion. FALL 2014 27