THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140548
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: 37 lines
Crop experts in Virginia and Wisconsin are the latest to show concern about reductions in bee populations.
Richard Fell, a bee expert with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service and Virginia Tech, said Virginia beekeepers have lost 40 percent to 90 percent of their hives. Farmers will have difficulty getting bee colonies for pollination, he said.
Nancy Israel of the Virginia State Apple Board predicted that this year's commercial crop would be about 60 percent of normal. She said Virginia's shortfall might not affect prices much if other areas of the country can meet the demand. But Virginians probably will see higher prices for local produce, she said.
In Wisconsin, because of cold, soggy weather and parasitic mites, the number of honey bees has dropped to its lowest level since the government started keeping records in 1945.
Lee Heinke, vice president of the Wisconsin Bee Keepers Association, said at least 50 percent of Wisconsin's 75,000 bee colonies were wiped out by parasitic diseases and freezes during the recent cold winter.
Apples, cherries, cucumbers and squash depend heavily on bee pollination to produce crops.
Cranberry harvests can plummet 75 percent when bees are not present, said Emmitt Harp, a retired bee researcher from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It is too soon, however, to predict what impact the bee shortage might have on Wisconsin's agricultural production, said Anette Phibbs, who monitors bees for the state. But honey prices, stagnant for 20 years, have doubled recently to $1 a pound.
KEYWORDS: BEES VIRGINIA by CNB