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The USDA Honey bee survey is expect to allow information on Honey bee plague and diseases that could be contributing to settlement collapse disorder .
The USDA is conducting a 13 - country survey of Honey bee pests and disease to help USDA scientist influence the preponderance of parasites and disease - make microorganisms that may be contributing to the fall of Honey bee Colony nationwide .
Since the forties , the U.S. Honey bee universe has dropped from 5 million Honey bee to approximately 2.5 million , accord to the USDA .
“ Bee wellness is critical for the succeeder of pollenation - based USDA , which produce about a third of our dieting in the United States , ” says agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack . “ There has been a worrying drop in the bit of U.S. bee settlement over the last few twelvemonth while the requirement for commercial-grade bee pollination services continues to grow , and this sight will help us to well sympathize the factors threatening our Honey bee so we can take effective activity to protect them and the crops that they pollinate . ”
The voluntary Honey bee survey includes 350 bee house across 13 states and will last through the end of 2010 . The USDA ’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service explicate the resume protocol together with with the USDA ’s Agricultural Research Service and Penn State University .
Honey bee survey kits have been mailed to put forward apiary specialist , who will pull in sample of bee and debris from the apiaries in their states . ARS and PSU scientists will test the samples for specific Honey bee pests and disease . APHIS is particularly concerned to know whether foreign mites of the genus Tropilaelaps have enter the United States .
The survey will take position in Alabama , California , Georgia , Indiana , Florida , Hawaii , Michigan , New York , Pennsylvania , South Dakota , Tennessee , Texas and Washington . Once all the sample have been analyze , APHIS will summarize the solution and mail the summary on its website .
Beekeeping is an essential component part of mod U.S. Agriculture Department , providing pollination serving for more than 90 commercial-grade crop and adding $ 15 billion in note value . Since the 1980s , however , a number of factors have contributed to the declining wellness of U.S. Honey bee colonies . These admit widespread habit of pesticides , the institution of several Honey bee pests into the U.S. , such as the small hive beetle , which can damage love coxcomb , store beloved and pollen , as well as deadlyHoney bee parasitessuch as the Varroa mite , tracheal jot and single - celled gut parasite Nosema ceranae . Honey bee also confront a number of newly introduced disease because of viruses , bacterium and fungi .
In addition , beekeepers began to account in 2006 a new menace to Honey bee health that scientists have namedcolony collapse upset . In colony demonstrate CCD , adult Honey bee pass on the hive and never return , abandoning the queen and eggs . APHIS , ARS , USDA ’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and a number of other organisation have formed a CCD workings group , which is researching the possible causal agent of CCD . The Honey bee survey termination will provide valuable information in this drive .
For more selective information about the study , please visit theAPHIS internet site .
