A beekeeper tending to his hives during the Californian almond pollination
( Image from CBC website, see bottom link)
I caught the rerun of a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) episode on the show “The Nature of Things”. It was called “To Bee or not to Bee” and was about the struggles that beekeepers from around the world are facing. It starts out with the report from David Hackenburgs’ hives. He is the man that first coined the phrase Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) after he found his hives collapsing with no bees to be found.
The documentary explores the possibilities of what is causing CCD. It goes to different countries and interviews scientists, beekeepers and others affected. It is somewhat reassuring to see that there are a lot of scientists working at finding a solution, but it does seem like everyone has there own opinion and no one claims to truly know the source of CCD. The general consensus among the interviewed is that they believe that it is a combination of stresses. They cite overuse of pesticides, poor nutrition caused by mono-culture (large fields of the same crop, which limits the variety and quantity of pollen available to bees) and an increase in diseases has hurt the bees’ immune system so much that it can no longer fight off sickness.
If you are currently looking for a location to place your hives, think about how many different sources of nectar and pollen that will be have available and if they will be shielded from harsh pesticides.
Follow the link to see the video. The CBC has really done an excellent job of collecting and presenting this information.
CBC: Nature of Things: To Bee or not to Bee
