USDA to survey 13 states, seeking extent and causes of bee-colony collapse disorder

The Department of Agriculture has launched a 13-state survey aimed at determining the cause and extent of Colony Collapse Disorder among bee populations. The $550,000 survey of 320 apiaries "is not a census of the total bee population," Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers reports. "Instead, it will focus on mortality and troublemakers." Some beekeepers have reported losing 30 to 90 percent of their hives to the disease.

"Whatever kind if research we can get, it's a good thing, because bees are such a valuable commodity," Janet Brisson, treasurer of the Nevada County Beekeepers Association in Pennsylvania, told Doyle. The survey will be conducted by the Agricultural Research Service and Penn State, and specialists will collect samples from selected apiaries. "The samples will then be tested for evidence of pests or pathogens, including foreign mites known as Tropilaelaps," Doyle writes.

"California's almond crop alone requires more than 1.4 million colonies of bees annually, amounting to more than half of all bees in the United States," Doyle writes. "The state's lawmakers have been at the forefront of the legislative effort to find out more about what's gone awry." In addition to California the survey will be conducted in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. (Read more)