Home & Garden
A World Without Honey Bees?
The population size and health of honey bees across the nation is at risk due to pesticides and parasites, in particular by the Varroa Mite.
Who doesn’t love a dollop of honey in our tea, or for that sore throat? In fact, honey is used for burns, it improves short and long-term memory, and is being studied for its impact on fertility, diabetes, and cancer. Honey has some surprising benefits. So it’s important to recognize the domesticated honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus,is under threat in Connecticut because of the varroa mite. There have been massive bee losses over the years. The importance of a honey bee can be easily overlooked in our day-to-day life, but as Albert Einstein reportedly once said, “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left.” Now albeit, that is an extreme statement, it shows the reliance we have on our ecosystems around the world and how we need to find ways to preserve them.
Honey bees serve as pollinators, which affect both natural and agricultural ecosystems. According to the State Entomologist Report on Managing the Varroa Mites for Honey Bees in Connecticut, bees pollinate approximately 66% of the world’s 1,500 different crop species and are responsible for 15 to 30% of Connecticut’s food production. Without a healthy bee population, orchards producing apples, peaches, and pears and farms in Connecticut are at risk of losing their pollination services which are estimated at nearly $15 million. In addition, the estimated 1,500 beekeepers with over 7,600 registered hives, valued at $4 million, are in danger of losing all their bees and the honey they produce.
The varroa mite, Varroa Destructor, isn’t a new parasite to Connecticut. They were first detected in 1991, but due to lack of treatment and management, the mites in recent years have been able to effectively decrease the population of managed bee colonies and almost complete disappearance of the feral honey bee colonies. Efforts in the past to protect the hive showed some success but foraging bees brought back more mites and respreads the parasite. The varroa mites also transmit viruses, six of which are known to be present in Connecticut, further decrease the lifespan of honey bees.
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This problem isn’t hopeless in Connecticut. The State Department of Entomology has taken steps to protect the honey bee population. Varroa mites can be effectively managed through integrated pest management (IPM) which use specialized chemicals, cultural, mechanical, and behavioral methods. The Bee Institute and Bayer’s Animal Health Division has designed a varroa gate, a “structure at the entrance to the hive” which protect the bees as it enters the hive with a safe chemical similar to a dog’s tick collar.
What can you do to help our Connecticut bees? You can limit the use of yard pesticides; let part of your garden grow wild instead of immediately cutting down dandelions and goldenrod, at least until they have fully flowered, or even start your own beekeeping. Check out www.ctbees.org which has information and provides workshops on beekeeping.