Hayes I article A.qxp

In an attempt to quantify the degree and extent of losses experienced in U.S. beekeeping operations between September 2006 and March 2007, members of the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) were asked to survey beekeepers who represent the hobby, sideline, and commercial beekeeping industries of their state. In all, 384 beekeeping operations were surveyed representing a total of 143,816 colonies plus 9,507 splits made between September and March. The total loss and average loss of bees in all operations was 31.8% and 37.6%, respectively. Of the surveyed beekeepers, 51.9% reported “abnormally heavy losses”; these beekeepers had a total loss of 55.4%, compared to the 15.9% total loss experienced by beekeepers who reported “normal losses”. Of responding beekeepers reporting the number of hives containing few or no bees in spring, 23.8% met the specified definition of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), meaning that 50% of their dead colonies were found without bees and/or with very few dead bees in the hive or apiary. CCD-suffering operations had a total loss of 45.0% compared to the total loss of 25.4% of all colonies experienced by nonCCD suffering beekeepers. Most hobbyist beekeepers believed that starvation was the leading cause of death in their colonies, while commercial beekeepers overwhelming believed invertebrate pests (Varroa mites, honey bee tracheal mites, and/or small hive beetles) were the leading cause of colony mortality. Considerable variability in losses and in the proportion of operations suffering from CCD was reported from the various states.