17.apr.07
The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo, Ontario)
Dana Flavelle, Toronto Star and Canadian Press
The sudden unexplained loss of millions of bees in the Niagara region -- up to 90 per cent in some commercial colonies -- has, according to this story, prompted Ontario beekeepers to ask experts at the University of Guelph to investigate.
The story says that the move comes amid the mysterious disappearance of millions of bees in the U.S., in a phenomenon so unusual that it has spawned a new phrase -- "Colony Collapse Disorder.''
In Canada, the problem seems to be confined so far to the Niagara region but it's still early days for beekeepers in the West, who won't know the extent of the damage until they unwrap their hives later this month.
George Dubanow, president of the Niagara Beekeepers Association, said in an interview yesterday, was quoted as saying, "About 80 or 90 per cent of the beekeepers in the Niagara region have had substantial losses. This number is unparalleled. A typical winter loss is between 10 and 20 per cent."
That has some Niagara region fruit growers worried in the weeks leading up to the May pollination period because bees don't just make honey. They also play a vital role in pollinating everything from cherries to pear trees in Ontario, hybrid canola in Western Canada and blueberries in New Brunswick.
As much as a third of the food we eat requires bee pollination, according to experts. Bee pollination is valued at $1 billion in Canada.