“everybody agrees that the biggest problem facing bees are the varroa mites,” he says. “but neonics are a problem that can be addressed, whereas the mite is a much more difficult thing to overcome.”
varroa destructor is a mite that attacks honeybees and weakens them by sucking their hemolymph, the honeybee equivalent to blood. in the process, the bee is weakened and contracts viruses such as deformed wing virus. unfortunately, mite treatments have had very limited success.
in his own case, beagle says that over the last four years, annual hive losses in his operation have been between 50 and 60 percent. that’s far above the 15- to 20-percent figure he was told to expect when he began keeping bees six years ago.
samples of dead bees from his hives, sent to the university of guelph, revealed the presence of neonic pesticides commonly used in his area, where a lot of cash-crop farms operate. his hives have not been impacted by the varroa mite.
“this isn’t just extinguishing bees — it’s also extinguishing beekeepers,” says beagle. “if you can’t make money off it, then people won’t keep bees.”
one increasingly popular theory is that the neonics don’t kill the bees outright; however, the pesticides weaken the bees to the point where they can’t survive severe winters. bees aren’t dying in the summer and may seem healthy and active, but come april, when beekeepers open the hives for the season, things are strangely silent.