Hum bug

Beekeepers must stop being happy-clappy groupies for the eco-lobby and start telling the truth about honey bees;

THEY ARE NOT DYING OUT!

They never were, though if you'd be forgiven for thinking so if you rely on the popular press. Here are some typical alarmist headlines from British newspapers in the last 12 months:

"Humans are to blame for wiping out honeybees" - Daily Mail (5/2/2016)

"Honey bees are being killed off in Europe by 57 pesticides" - The Independent (11/3/2016)

"Honey bee crisis deepens as die-offs surge" - The Daily Telegraph (14/5/2015)

It's not just the popular press – even scientific news sources can't resist alarmist headlines:

"U.S. beekeepers lost 40 percent of bees in 2014 -15" - wailed Science Daily earlier this year. They're not kidding; here are the percentage annual losses for U.S honey bee colonies over the last 5 years:

2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
-37%	-28%	-45%	-34%	-42%

It looks horrendous. There were 2 ½ million colonies of bees in the USA in 2010 so based these losses you might calculate that there are now only 239,000 hives remaining*, but the actual number of hives is 2.66 million. Its gone up!

It's the same in Europe – the number of managed honey bee colonies has risen from 11 million in 2000 to over 12 million today. Hardly bee-mageddon!

So what's happening? Well the annual loses data above is based upon the 15 – 20% of beekeepers that bother responding to surveys so there's potential for bias – if you've had a particularly bad year you may be more likely to respond to a survey about colony losses.

But the real sleight of hand is the failure to mention that honey bees can easily double their numbers in one season by swarming, something many of us will notice in the coming weeks when the swarming season begins.

So even though U.S annual losses data isn't good, it's not disastrous. The situation across Canada and Europe is better with winter losses last year of around 17% - easily manageable.

Indeed what's perhaps more surprising, given the bees ability to double their numbers in one season, is why the number of hives isn't increasing more rapidly, but there's a simple explanation: Beekeepers merge their surplus colonies each year to keep things manageable … and profitable.

Yes – global economics is driving growth in the number of honey bees. Over the last 10 years high prices for manuka honey have led to a doubling in the number of bee hives in New Zealand (from 300,000 to 600, 000), and countries like China and Argentina have contributed to the relentless growth in global honey production, which is now at a record 1.6 million tons p.a.

So why all the scary headlines about honey bee decline? Well it's a combination of conspiracy and cock-up.

The conspiracy comes from those who gain from bee-mageddon. Tariffs on foreign honey are easier to obtain if national honey bees are thought to be 'at risk'. Suppliers of equipment, training and beekeeping publications make money from newbie hobbyists trying to 'save the bees'. Academics receive generous research funding, and politicians win plaudits.

Then there's the eco-lobby which too often is prepared play fast and loose with the truth in their perpetual war with the agro-chemical industry. According to Greenpeace;

“ Worldwide bee colony collapse is not as big a mystery as the chemical industry claims.”

Indeed! The reason it's not a 'big mystery' is because it isn't happening!

Cock-up is down to sloppy journalism. Most scribblers don't know a honey bee from hover-fly. When scientists rightly raise concerns about our 'native wild pollinators', this gets translated as 'bee' and to the average hack 'bee' means 'honey bee'. So they write about honey bees rather than the 2,000 other species that are actually at risk.

Its a shame. Well meaning folk are becoming beekeepers to 'save the bees' when a much better approach would be support activities that help our wild pollinators. For example:

• Don't pave over your garden and support the RHS's 'Greening Grey Britain' initiative
• Don't cut your grass when the dandelion and clover is in bloom
• Wash your car rather than lobbying to have trees cut down 
• Plant pollinator friendly flowers and trees
• Encourage your local authority, school, employer and other land owners to grow pollinator friendly flowers rather than the usual garish sterile hybrids

Oh – and buy local honey! (Well I would say that!)

Then you really will hear the bugs hum, rather than humbug about honey bee decline.

*Here's the calculation:
2,500,000 x (1-0.37) x (1 – 0.28) x (1 -0.45) x (1 – 0.34) x (1 – 0.42) = 239,000