Published: June 28, 2007 10:01 pm      

House subcommittee explores ramifications of honeybee decline

BLUEFIELD — Capitol Hill was buzzing earlier this week as a congressional subcommittee listened to concerns about the decline in the nation’s honeybee population.

The House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans conducted an oversight hearing on Tuesday to learn more about the “mysterious threat to our nation’s honeybees.”

The subcommittee heard testimony from U.S. Reps. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., as well as Mamie Parker, assistant director for Fisheries and Habitat Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services; Daniel Weaver, president of the American Beekeeping Association, Kevin J. Hackett, Ph.D., national program leader for bees and pollinators, Agriculture Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Thomas E. Lovejoy, Ph.D., president, H. John Heinz III center for Science, Economics and the Environment; and May R. Berenbaum, Ph.D., professor and head of Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Witnesses appearing before the oversight committee were scheduled to discuss “the severity, causes and ramifications of the decline, as well as make some recommendations for congressional action,” according to a press release from the subcommittee. The subcommittee press release indicated that beekeepers in the nation have reported the loss of more than one-quarter of the nation’s 2.4 million bee colonies, a figure that is “nearly five times the normal annual loss,” according to the press release.

“No legislation has been introduced related to the issue,” Allyson Ivins Groff, spokesperson for the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources said. “The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the colony collapse issue in March. Our hearing was more general in nature. Although there is no legislation now, we are monitoring the situation.”

Several Mercer County beekeepers reported dramatic losses this year, but not necessarily due to the colony collapse disorder that has had a profound impact on the honeybee population in the western states. Several Mercer County beekeepers speculated that their losses this year came as a result of a warm spell during the winter that prompted their honeybees to eat up all the food they had stored for the winter.

“I asked the state bee inspector to come by here and check out my hives,” Joe Davidson, 86, of Bluefield said. “He came here on Tuesday. I told him I didn’t think he would find anything, but five of my hives were almost full. That’s five out of the six hives that I have. Not bad.”

Davidson said that Wade Stiltner, the state bee inspector that serves the 14 counties of southern West Virginia, “only found a few mites in one of my hives,” he said. “I can treat them pretty easily.” Stiltner could not be reached for additional comment.

In her opening statement at the subcommittee hearing, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, D-Guam, chairwoman of the subcommittee, pointed out: “In a world forecast to experience unpredictable climate change, we simply cannot afford to squander our pollinator resource if we hope to maintain food security and biologically diverse forests, grasslands, wetlands and deserts,” she was quoted as stating in prepared remarks. “I am pleased that we will have experts ... to explain the status of pollinators and their importance in maintaining biodiversity.

“It is also important that federal land managers and private landowners consider the needs of pollinators as a normal part of doing business,” Bordallo was quoted as stating. “To the extent that we can be better pollinator stewards, we can avoid unnecessary harm of pollinators and reduce the impact of threats facing pollinator populations, such as invasive species or habitat fragmentation.”

The oversight hearing was held in conjunction with National Pollinators Week, and was titled, “The birds and the bees: How pollinators help maintain healthy ecosystems.” The Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans is part of the Committee on Natural Resources chaired by U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com