Honey Bee Colonies Had A Worse Than Average Winter – But Don’t Buy Hype About It
August 5, 2016
From: Science 2.0
The number of honey bee colonies fell by nearly 12% last winter – according to a preliminary look at a survey of beekeepers, that is. The UK and Spain were worst affected this year. The prior year, other areas of Europe were hardest hit. While environmental groups make money scaring people about that, what it really means is something else.
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But outside fundraising brochures, things are more complex. Varroa mites are the big culprit and amateur beekeepers and those who want to keep their organic sticker don’t fight those properly. As amateur beekeeping has become a fad, especially among people who claim to care about the environment, they have made dramatic mistakes. They want to blame chemicals rather than their poor management practices, pests, diseases, or even that some winters are harder than others.
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