Honey Bee Survey

Honey Bee Survey. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Spring time is here and with all the flowers blooming in your yard, garden and in the orchards it is time to start considering the Apis or to you and I, the honey bee. The latest version of the farm bill included a major USDA effort to survey honey bee colonies for pests and diseases in the wake of Colony Collapse Disorder and that survey has just gotten underway. ROSE: This is the first one that is looking at everything in the colony really but we have state apiary specialists who are going out and actually collecting samples from the hives. Robyn Rose, with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says this survey is much more in depth than previous surveys done. ROSE: This survey is focusing on pests and diseases of honey bees and it is a comprehensive survey looking at all of the known pests and diseases of honey bees in the U.S. right now and also we are looking for potentially exotic pests that we had not found yet. In 2006 beekeepers began to report a new threat to honey bee health that scientists have named colony collapse disorder. In colonies exhibiting CCD, adult bees leave the hive and never return, abandoning the queen and eggs. The survey is taking place in 13 states including Washington. Once all the samples have been analyzed, APHIS will summarize the results and post the summary on its web site. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.