A National Stakeholders Conference on Honey Bee Health, led by federal researchers and managers, along with Pennsylvania State University, was convened last October to synthesize the current state of knowledge regarding the primary factors that scientists believe have the greatest impact on managed bee health.
Key findings include:
Parasites and Disease Present Risks to Honey Bees: The parasitic
Varroa mite is recognized as the major factor underlying colony loss in the U.S.
and other countries. There is widespread resistance to the chemicals beekeepers use to control mites within the hive. New virus species have been found in the U.S. and several of these have been associated with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).U.S. honeybee colonies need increased genetic diversity. Genetic variation improves bees thermoregulation (the ability to keep body temperature steady even if the surrounding environment is different), disease resistance and worker productivity. Honey bee breeding should emphasize traits such as hygienic behavior that confer improved resistance to
Varroa mites and diseases (such as American foulbrood). Nutrition has a major impact on individual bee and colony longevity. A nutrition-poor diet can make bees more susceptible to harm from disease and parasites. Bees need better forage and a variety of plants to support colony health.Federal and state partners should consider actions affecting land management to maximize available nutritional forage to promote and enhance good bee health and to protect bees by keeping them away from pesticide-treated fields.Best Management Practices associated with bees and pesticide use, exist, but are not widely or systematically followed by members of the crop-producing industry. There is a need for informed and coordinated communication between growers and beekeepers and effective collaboration between stakeholders on practices to protect bees from pesticides. Beekeepers emphasized the need for accurate and timely bee kill incident reporting, monitoring, and enforcement.The most pressing pesticide research questions relate to determining actual pesticide exposures and effects of pesticides to bees in the field and the potential for impacts on bee health and productivity of whole honey bee colonies.
http://www.usda.gov/documents/ReportHoneyBeeHealth.pdf