Pushing the bees to their limits

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More Than 40% of Bee Hives Died in Past Year, Survey Says

(WASHINGTON) — More than two out of five American honeybee colonies died in the past year, and surprisingly the worst die-off was in the summer, according to a federal survey.

Since April 2014, beekeepers lost 42.1 percent of their colonies, the second highest loss rate in nine years, according to an annual survey conducted by a bee partnership that includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

..

Dick Rogers, chief beekeeper for pesticide-maker Bayer, said the loss figure is “not unusual at all” and said the survey shows an end result of more colonies now than before: 2.74 million hives in 2015, up from 2.64 million in 2014

http://time.com/3857479/bees-dying-survey/

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1. As bad as it is, article somewhat understates the problem, because the current rate of die-off

follows upon a very significant die-off a few years ago. The honey-bee population is already seriously changed from a couple of decades ago.

In my area, the entire picture of pollinators has already changed dramatically. before any current dieoff.

from Wikipedia>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

snip>

From 1972 to 2006, dramatic reductions continued in the number of feral honey bees in the U.S.[19] and a significant though somewhat gradual decline in the number of colonies maintained by beekeepers. This decline includes the cumulative losses from all factors, such as urbanization, pesticide use, tracheal and Varroa mites, and commercial beekeepers' retiring and going out of business. However, in late 2006 and early 2007, the rate of attrition was alleged to have reached new proportions, and the term "colony collapse disorder" began to be used to describe this sudden rash of disappearances (sometimes referred to as "spontaneous hive collapse" or the "Mary Celeste syndrome" in the United Kingdom).[3][20]

Losses had remained stable since the 1990s at 17%–20% per year attributable to a variety of factors, such as mites, diseases, and management stress.[21] The first report of CCD was in mid-November 2006 by a Pennsylvania beekeeper overwintering in Florida. By February 2007, large commercial migratory beekeepers in several states had reported heavy losses associated with CCD. Their reports of losses varied widely, ranging from 30% to 90% of their bee colonies; in some cases, beekeepers reported losses of nearly all of their colonies with surviving colonies so weakened that they might no longer be viable to pollinate or produce honey.[22]

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2. I changed the Header

to a quote from the very end of the article to reflect that.