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Millions of Bees Swarm over California Highway
by
findingDulcinea Staff
A flipped big rig released 8 million bees over a Sacramento highway. Bee populations are falling steeply, making the insects a pricy commodity.
30-Second Summary
Between $75,000 and $80,000 worth of bees were lost after a truck flipped over on Sunday morning in the southern reaches of California’s capital city. Highway patrol workers, fighting off stings, called in beekeeping experts to help control the insects and reload them into crates until a forklift arrived.
The rescue effort was important as bees are a key agricultural commodity, especially in central California where they are used to pollinate almond orchards. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)—a term that describes the sudden, so far inexplicable, disappearance of a bee population, which abandons the hive, queen and eggs—has killed off approximately one-quarter of America’s 2.4 million hives.
Cleanup from the truck crash will involve beekeepers going through the 440 dumped-over colonies and identifying each of their queen bees. Former beekeeper Jesse Young says some of the hives are probably “without queens and some with more than one. Where there's more than one, all but one will be killed.”
The rescue effort was important as bees are a key agricultural commodity, especially in central California where they are used to pollinate almond orchards. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)—a term that describes the sudden, so far inexplicable, disappearance of a bee population, which abandons the hive, queen and eggs—has killed off approximately one-quarter of America’s 2.4 million hives.
Cleanup from the truck crash will involve beekeepers going through the 440 dumped-over colonies and identifying each of their queen bees. Former beekeeper Jesse Young says some of the hives are probably “without queens and some with more than one. Where there's more than one, all but one will be killed.”
Headline Links: Truck spills 8 million bees, hampers traffic
A truck flipped over on a northbound stretch of Highway 99 in Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday, spilling 440 hives of bees. According to Jesse Young, a former beekeeper called by the California Highway Patrol to help contain the swarms, the lost bees are worth “between $75,000 and $80,000.” The Sacramento Bee reports that patrol officer “Michael Bradley, reached by phone at the scene, had to sign off abruptly while he went at it with a bee in his car.”
Source: The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA has footage of the scene. Anchor Kevin Riggs says that “each hive was worth about $150 to $200.” Tiberiu Korsinszky was stung 80 times while helping with the clean up. When asked why he stopped, he replied, “I love the bees. I have been working with them since I was 18 years old.
Source: Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA
Background: Colony Collapse Disorder
Diana Cox-Foster, an entomologist at Pennsylvania State University, and Jeffrey S. Pettis, an entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have been leading a research team dedicated to Colony Collapse Disorder, the term given to an illness in which bees become disoriented and cannot return to their hives. Over 25 percent of America’s 2.4 million hives have been lost due to CCD-related causes. In April 2007, the team said that its primary suspects were either “a virus, a fungus or a pesticide,” but it has yet to publish any definitive results.
Source: The New York Times (free registration may be required)
Reference: States affected by Colony Collapse Disorder
New Scientist provides a map of states affected by Colony Collapse Disorder.
Source: New Scientist
Related Topic: ‘Haagen-Dazs Acts to Help Save Dying Bees’
Haagen-Dazs has awarded a $250,000 grant to scientists working to solve Colony Collapse Disorder. Without bees, human food supplies may soon suffer.
Source: findingDulcinea
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