- A queen bee, located in a wooden box, was shipped along with the bees to be placed in new honeybee hives.

Kim Fraser, a beekeeper in Spotsylvania, puts new bees into a hive. Fraser is helping replenish area honeybees. A queen bee, located in a wooden box, was shipped along with the bees to be placed in new honeybee hives.

Honeybees take a hit this winter. Possible cause? Colony Collapse Disorder

Date published: 4/13/2007

By ANDREA CHRISTIE

Bob Duxbury's honeybees won't be buzzing as much this year. After a rough winter, Duxbury, a beekeeper in Amissville, lost eight out of 12 hives--high compared with his usual loss of 15 percent to 20 percent.

"It was a winter most of us would like to forget about," Duxbury said.

The warm weather into January and then a harsh shift to chilling winter temperatures was one cause of high honeybee losses this year. Another factor, however, is colony collapse disorder, diagnosed by researchers last fall.

CCD is characterized by the sudden disappearance of bees from a colony, and has hit beekeepers across the country.

According to state apiarist Keith Tignor, researchers are not sure why the bees are disappearing or where they are going. One theory is absconding, in which the bees will "pack up and leave" when the conditions in a hive become unacceptable.

According to Tignor, this is not a problem in the summer or spring, but in the late fall and winter, no nectar is available for bees and they starve to death before making it to a new hive.

Tignor said stress, such as that caused by moving hives, also could be a factor in CCD.

While most reported cases of CCD have been from large, commercial beekeepers, some hobbyists also have experienced problems.

Duxbury says that hives from which the bees have disappeared have not been invaded by insect pests, which is unusual.

"When there's nobody home, no guard at the door, other insects will come in," Duxbury said. "Wax moths love to go into beehives, but they won't even go in."

According to Kim Fraser, president of the Rappahannock Area Beekeepers Association, losses in the area might not necessarily be from CCD, but they are larger than in past years. Fraser, who has never lost hives, lost four this year.

Both Fraser and Tignor, as well as Ann Harman, president of the Northern Piedmont Beekeepers Association, said it is still early in the spring to know the full effect of winter losses.

In the next month, however, associations, as well as the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, will be collecting surveys from beekeepers to better analyze the losses from the winter and CCD.

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Date published: 4/13/2007