Proposed Management & Monitoring
1. Varroa Mite Monitoring
a. Details
- Varroa mites are small, parasitic mites that have been ravaging beehives worldwide for years. They invade hives and latch on to worker bees, feeding on the bee’s hemolymph, a bee’s equivalent to blood. This slows the work of honey bees and shortens their life span to the point where hives’ death rates become greater than their reproduction rates, killing off the hive.
- Monitoring of Varroa Mites in cooperation with beekeepers will be conducted in San Juan County.
- Varroa Mite Monitoring will be done by the hives’ respectful owners.
- Monitoring of Varroa Mites will be done in order to find if Varroa Mites are a problem with beekeepers and if they are a lead contributor to CCD in the San Juan County.
- Beekeepers will be taught by a member of the Buzz Club the method of spraying olive oil on correx sheets and placing them in their hives to capture and count the number of mites in their hives. The sheets stay in for three days, and the total number of mites is divided by thee to find the average daily mite drop. This will be done for five 3-day sessions in May and August, averaging all data taken in that month. In May, treatment should be considered if there are 5-10 mites on an average daily drop, and 50-60 in August (Brushy, 2012).
- Data will be taken over a 5-year period to ensure enough data is collected
- There will be one correx sheet provided for 30% of the hives and one correx sheet will be used for all five sessions in one beehive.
- Correx sheets will be bought by their respective cities in La Plata County, and beekeepers will be fined for one tenth of the total cost for their correx sheets, rounded to the nearest whole number.
- This plan will be considered a success if 85% or more of local beekeepers agree to gather data, or if 90 or more hives are used in the data.
- This plan will be considered effective if the data is shows distinctly (95% or more) that Varroa Mites are or aren’t a problem in the La Plata County
- This will be put into effect May 10, 2013, so that data can be collected as soon as possible.
a. Benefits
- This plan benefits other research being done on a national scale.
- This is a simple process for beekeepers which will not take much time out of their schedules.
b. Cons
- The main problem with this plan is that correx sheets are incredibly expensive ($8 per sheet), and the price can become quite large when you take into consideration how many sheets will be needed, which will get up above $1,000 if this plan is successful.
- Though this is an easy process, beekeepers with larger amounts of hives may be unwilling due to the amount of hives they will have to test.
2. Pesticide
a. Details
- Neonicotinoids are one the most commercially used pesticides out right now because they merge with plants so that any insect that comes into contact with the plant becomes infected with a virus that spreads throughout their body, latching on to and disabling nerves that control movement. It has been suspected that neonicotinoids are a contributing factor of the sudden collapse of honey bees, and reducing and/or eliminating the use of neonicotinoids could help them restore their numbers. This segment is aimed to reduce the death toll that had been put on honey bees in the past years, specifically by neonicotinoids. (Jacobsen, 2008).
- Policies pertaining use of pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids, will be changed so that they will be less heavily used, eventually diminishing use, in the City of Durango.
- These policies will be enforced by the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
- Bans will be enforced for 5 years so that reasonable data may be taken.
- If it is found that reducing and/or banning the use of neonicotinoids in commercial crops does not help honey bee populations grow, the CDA will stop monitoring and use of neonicotinoids will be restored.
- This will be done throughout the La Plata County as to get a better idea of how much neonicotinoids affect honey bees.
- A bi-annual survey will be sent out to local beekeepers to see if populations are growing over the 5 year period.
- This plan will be considered a success if, over the five years, bee populations are up 60%.
- This plan will be considered effective if there is considerable data (40% growth over 5 years) and/or a new form of pesticides is being created or is already being sold commercially in the La Plata County.
b. Benefits
- This will help
- gather needed information on the effects and lethality of neonicotinoids on honey bees.
c. Cons
- Almost 2 trillion dollars were made off of neonicotinoids in 2007, and that number has risen greatly (Neonicotinoid, 2012). Banning neonicotinoids will severely hurt companies who sell them.
- A new type of pesticide will have to be developed if it is proven that neonicotinoids are a threat to honey bees and contribute to CCD.
3. Honey bee population declines
a. Details
- Due to CCD and the presence of many other factors, honey bees and honey bee hives have been dropping in numbers quite dramatically. .75-1 million honey bee hives were lost in the winter of 2007-2008 alone worldwide (VanEngelsdorp, 2012). Without honey bee hives, pollination will become more expensive and scarce, farcing farmers to have to bring up the prices on their products, and the cost for just about everything will go up, so it is a necessity to keep a healthy amount of hives and bees to prevent this from happening.
- Residents in La Plata County will be asked to keep honey bees in order to help foster their declining populations
- Beehives will be kept for one year, and then they may decide to keep them or pass them on to a member of the buzz club or any other keeper that is willing to take them.
- Those who take in beehives will be paid $2 a month for each beehive that person is fostering as long as that hive is stable for that year.
- This aims to help the honey bees survive their current state of decline. CCD has ravaged honey bees, leaving beekeepers with less honey bees, and slowing the process of polinization that is needed for farmers’ crops to grow.
- A bi-annual survey will be taken by those who have accepted to foster honey bee hives to check if their haves are healthy, or if hives are dying out.
- .75-1 million honey bee hives were lost in the winter of 2007-2008 alone worldwide (VanEngelsdorp, 2012).
- A letter covering the information needed to know how to keep a healthy bee hive will be sent to the residents who will be holding hives.
b. Benefits
- Honey bee populations can be expected to rise.
- Will help to spread information about the serious issue of the current state of honey bees.
c. Cons
- Those fostering hives may be too inexperienced and end up killing more bees than saving them.
- Residents may be unwilling to take honey bees.
1. Varroa Mite Monitoring
a. Details
- Varroa mites are small, parasitic mites that have been ravaging beehives worldwide for years. They invade hives and latch on to worker bees, feeding on the bee’s hemolymph, a bee’s equivalent to blood. This slows the work of honey bees and shortens their life span to the point where hives’ death rates become greater than their reproduction rates, killing off the hive.
- Monitoring of Varroa Mites in cooperation with beekeepers will be conducted in San Juan County.
- Varroa Mite Monitoring will be done by the hives’ respectful owners.
- Monitoring of Varroa Mites will be done in order to find if Varroa Mites are a problem with beekeepers and if they are a lead contributor to CCD in the San Juan County.
- Beekeepers will be taught by a member of the Buzz Club the method of spraying olive oil on correx sheets and placing them in their hives to capture and count the number of mites in their hives. The sheets stay in for three days, and the total number of mites is divided by thee to find the average daily mite drop. This will be done for five 3-day sessions in May and August, averaging all data taken in that month. In May, treatment should be considered if there are 5-10 mites on an average daily drop, and 50-60 in August (Brushy, 2012).
- Data will be taken over a 5-year period to ensure enough data is collected
- There will be one correx sheet provided for 30% of the hives and one correx sheet will be used for all five sessions in one beehive.
- Correx sheets will be bought by their respective cities in La Plata County, and beekeepers will be fined for one tenth of the total cost for their correx sheets, rounded to the nearest whole number.
- This plan will be considered a success if 85% or more of local beekeepers agree to gather data, or if 90 or more hives are used in the data.
- This plan will be considered effective if the data is shows distinctly (95% or more) that Varroa Mites are or aren’t a problem in the La Plata County
- This will be put into effect May 10, 2013, so that data can be collected as soon as possible.
a. Benefits
- This plan benefits other research being done on a national scale.
- This is a simple process for beekeepers which will not take much time out of their schedules.
b. Cons
- The main problem with this plan is that correx sheets are incredibly expensive ($8 per sheet), and the price can become quite large when you take into consideration how many sheets will be needed, which will get up above $1,000 if this plan is successful.
- Though this is an easy process, beekeepers with larger amounts of hives may be unwilling due to the amount of hives they will have to test.
2. Pesticide
a. Details
- Neonicotinoids are one the most commercially used pesticides out right now because they merge with plants so that any insect that comes into contact with the plant becomes infected with a virus that spreads throughout their body, latching on to and disabling nerves that control movement. It has been suspected that neonicotinoids are a contributing factor of the sudden collapse of honey bees, and reducing and/or eliminating the use of neonicotinoids could help them restore their numbers. This segment is aimed to reduce the death toll that had been put on honey bees in the past years, specifically by neonicotinoids. (Jacobsen, 2008).
- Policies pertaining use of pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids, will be changed so that they will be less heavily used, eventually diminishing use, in the City of Durango.
- These policies will be enforced by the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
- Bans will be enforced for 5 years so that reasonable data may be taken.
- If it is found that reducing and/or banning the use of neonicotinoids in commercial crops does not help honey bee populations grow, the CDA will stop monitoring and use of neonicotinoids will be restored.
- This will be done throughout the La Plata County as to get a better idea of how much neonicotinoids affect honey bees.
- A bi-annual survey will be sent out to local beekeepers to see if populations are growing over the 5 year period.
- This plan will be considered a success if, over the five years, bee populations are up 60%.
- This plan will be considered effective if there is considerable data (40% growth over 5 years) and/or a new form of pesticides is being created or is already being sold commercially in the La Plata County.
b. Benefits
- This will help
- gather needed information on the effects and lethality of neonicotinoids on honey bees.
c. Cons
- Almost 2 trillion dollars were made off of neonicotinoids in 2007, and that number has risen greatly (Neonicotinoid, 2012). Banning neonicotinoids will severely hurt companies who sell them.
- A new type of pesticide will have to be developed if it is proven that neonicotinoids are a threat to honey bees and contribute to CCD.
3. Honey bee population declines
a. Details
- Due to CCD and the presence of many other factors, honey bees and honey bee hives have been dropping in numbers quite dramatically. .75-1 million honey bee hives were lost in the winter of 2007-2008 alone worldwide (VanEngelsdorp, 2012). Without honey bee hives, pollination will become more expensive and scarce, farcing farmers to have to bring up the prices on their products, and the cost for just about everything will go up, so it is a necessity to keep a healthy amount of hives and bees to prevent this from happening.
- Residents in La Plata County will be asked to keep honey bees in order to help foster their declining populations
- Beehives will be kept for one year, and then they may decide to keep them or pass them on to a member of the buzz club or any other keeper that is willing to take them.
- Those who take in beehives will be paid $2 a month for each beehive that person is fostering as long as that hive is stable for that year.
- This aims to help the honey bees survive their current state of decline. CCD has ravaged honey bees, leaving beekeepers with less honey bees, and slowing the process of polinization that is needed for farmers’ crops to grow.
- A bi-annual survey will be taken by those who have accepted to foster honey bee hives to check if their haves are healthy, or if hives are dying out.
- .75-1 million honey bee hives were lost in the winter of 2007-2008 alone worldwide (VanEngelsdorp, 2012).
- A letter covering the information needed to know how to keep a healthy bee hive will be sent to the residents who will be holding hives.
b. Benefits
- Honey bee populations can be expected to rise.
- Will help to spread information about the serious issue of the current state of honey bees.
c. Cons
- Those fostering hives may be too inexperienced and end up killing more bees than saving them.
- Residents may be unwilling to take honey bees.