Preliminary Results Concerning the Loss of Honey Bee Colonies over the Winter 2007 -2008. A Survey Conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the USDA-ARS Beltsville Honey Bee Lab. Prepared by: Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Jerry Hayes , and Jeff Pettis. 

April 9, 2008

Note: This preliminary report was prepared for those stakeholders participating in the "Pollinators and Agricultural Security: An Update on Research, Conservation and Legislative Opportunities" round table called by members of the US Senate.  A more detailed final report is being prepared for publication at a later date.

The Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) commissioned a survey to estimate colony loses across the country between September 2007 and 2008. The USDA-ARS Beltsville Honey Bee Lab conducted a similar survey of beekeepers pollinating almonds in California in February 2008.   In total nearly 18% of the country's estimated 2.44 million colonies were surveyed. A total loss of 35.2% of managed honey bee colonies was recorded.  This represents a 3.2 point or 10% increase in total losses as compared to last year.  The 327 operators surveyed in 2007-2008 lost on average 31.4% of their colonies.

Forty two percent of surveyed beekeepers reported having higher than normal losses.   Those reporting abnormally high losses reported having a total loss of 43.7%, while those reporting normal losses reported a 22.9% loss.  In other words, beekeepers believed that loosing close to one quarter of their operation over the winter was "normal."

One of the symptoms of Colony Collapse Disorder is the complete absence of bees in dead colonies or in apiaries.  The AIA survey was not able to differentiate between true cases of CCD and colonies lost due to causes that share the "absence of dead bees" symptom.  However, the 36% of operations that reported having at least some of their colonies die with this symptom had a total loss of 41.3% of their colonies. This compares to the 17.5% colony loss reported by beekeepers not reporting losses with this symptomology.  At least 71% of all colony deaths can be attributed non-CCD causes, underlying the need for research, not only into CCD, but into pollinator health in general.