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North America was always tenuous. Originally imported from Europe, records as far back as 1915 report a mysterious “disappearing disease” that caused mass die-offs.
The actual losses remain uncertain; Virginia law does not require beekeepers to register hives, and an inventory has never been done on bees in the wild. Officials currently rely on beekeepers filling out a 20-page survey to see if they suffered colony collapse disorder in the first place.
But researchers have gathered a rough estimate through surveys with beekeepers.
The appearance of tracheal mites in the 1980s dealt honeybees a serious blow. By the mid90s wild honeybees had all but ceased to exist. Tignor estimates about 30,000 hives in Virginia; the number stood around 90,000 before the mites.
And mass die-offs are common among beekeepers. Even in good years beekeepers often lose 20 to 3p percent of their hives.
“There were a lot of colony losses noted last fall,” Fell said. “We’ve seen losses through the winter from poor food conditions moving into winter times. Then those wet conditions add up to problems from parasites. The combination lead to signifi
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