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WC IA | I often tell people there is no such thing as a native American honeybee and they look at me like I'm nuts.
A good number of honeybees are lost on the highway traveling around the country in a vehicle to service crops. I've been told 25%, but I don't know that.
The varroa mite is a parasite that causes considerable colony damage. In 2-3 years, if left unmanaged, the varroa mite can easily wipe out the colony.
The honey is great. They are a beneficial insect worth helping survive. I'm not sure we'd have commercial almonds without them.
All that said, I'm not convinced neonicotinoids (primary corn/soybean seed treatment insecticides) are the major culprit behind honeybee issues.
France and much of the EU has banned imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, thiacloprid and acetamiprid despite the European Commission deeming such a ban “neither scientifically nor legally appropriate.” In 2019, France also banned flupyradifurone and sulfoxaflor. Those first 3 are used on essentially all US corn and at least 60% of US soybeans annually. | |
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Learned something new about honey bees
