BBC | North America to publish bee story
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5997503541673500656
In California the almond orchards are in blossom and millions of honeybees are at work, pollinating, doing a job only they can do. Almonds are the first big bloom of the season and considered the “money-maker” for bee-keepers. But without a trace, something is causing bees to vanish by the thousands, effecting both the bee-keeping industry and California’s number 1 agricultural export valued at over $3 billion dollars U.S.
1/2000 sec at f/2.8 – 200mm
Little is understood about the phenomenon called colony collapse disorder, but this year many bee keepers have lost over half of their hives. With over 1.2 million hives needed to pollinate the state’s 550,000 acre crop, keepers from around the country are scrambling to get enough hives to the growers.
1/125 sec at f/16 – 14mm
The worry for keepers is that the disappearance can happen with such short notice, and with a 2 week window of bloom opportunity for the almonds daily auditing is a must.
1/1250 sec at f/5 – 200mm
Epidemics of disappearances like the current one have been documented as far back as 1896 but no cause has ever been established. Meanwhile researchers are scrambling to find answers and the Almond Board of California has given $200,000 U.S. for research this year. Parasitic mites, pesticides, stress and virus have all been linked to what researchers have found to be a “compromised immune system.”
1/800 sec at f/5.6 – 175mm
Checking the strength of the colony and looking for the queen bee.
1/750 sec at f/5 – 200mm
Mike Mulligan, owner of Glory Bee from Shafter California, has been in the industry for over 20 years, “has never seen anything like this.” Because of this problem, Mike must drive around to audit both his and other bee hives that he brokers to check the condition of the colonies during the peak of the bloom. On this day, he checked over 500 colonies and a third were either showing signs of problems or the colony had disappeared completely.
1/1000 sec at f/2.8 – 14mm
Success in finding the queen bee, Mike’s hives have seemed to thrive when bee box hives just feet away have disappeared. “We’ve been pretty lucky this year, others have lost over half of their entire colonies and have had to replace them with lower quality hives…I’m not sure what it will do for the coming almond harvest.”
1/6000 sec at f/1.4 – 30mm
The brief almond bloom window has been uninterrupted by bad weather this year and has caused an almost unprecedented simultaneous bloom of all varieties in the state. Even with the seemingly large amount of blooms, growers are complaining about the lack of bees they are seeing. The true test of this epidemic, for growers, will come at harvest.
1/125 sec at f/16 – 14mm
