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About one third of the produce humans ingest every day can be credited to bees. The business of agriculture is directly dependant on pollination from commercial honey bees.
The demand for pollination has made beekeeping into a $150 million commercial industry of over 2.3 million beehives.
But unfortunately for farmers and beekeepers alike, bee populations have been suffering from a mysterious epidemic called Colony Collapse Disorder. The decline of bee populations was first noticed in the 1940s but still cannot be traced back to a single variable.
"Beekeeping used to be simple 20 years ago, but is getting more difficult," said Jerry Mixon, 70, a member of the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association.
"Although you can't really see the problem in the Northwest, it's getting much worse across the country," said David Clausen, a gardener at Seattle University.
In recent years, exotic mites such as the Varroa mite have been introduced to the United States and have devastated entire colonies of bees. Scientists also point to insecticides and herbicides as a possible cause of the declining bee populations that thrive in floral biodiversity.
"It's difficult to say in general how bad the problem has become," said Bruce Becker of the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association. "If 50 percent to 80 percent of your colonies die there is a problem, but that varies from beekeeper to beekeeper."
The struggle to protect honey bees from CCD is an uphill battle that has required beekeepers to be creative in treating and managing their hives.
At Seattle U, the landscaping and grounds crew uses classical biological techniques of conservation to naturally create self-sustaining ecosystems.
By introducing natural enemies of pests to a habitat, most problems can be resolved without pesticides that can affect the entire habitat.
"We are hoping to find conservation in creating habitats with the use of biological control," said Janice Murphy, Seattle U gardener.
Beekeepers are working to create a secure and healthy environment for their colonies. Because honey bees are more susceptible to negative environmental factors, beekeepers must care for them in a special manner.
"The bees used for commercial pollination are imported honey bees that are not as hardy as other pollinators," Murphy said. "They cannot sustain their colonies in the harsh environments that orchards provide."
Ideally, beekeepers hope to introduce natural pollinators to orchard areas that would thrive under such conditions.
The Blue Orchard Mason Bee has been proposed to replace honey bees in pollination because they prove to be more adaptable to orchard environments, but they may present a different set of problems.
"Although mason bees are more efficient pollinators, they are solitary bees and would not be commercially viable for orchard pollination," Becker said.
Although the long-term projection for the survival of honey bees hasn't been extensively discussed among beekeepers, steps are being taken to raise healthier hives while also trying to compete in a competitive business.
"CCD is a problem we don't really understand and proves more challenging to combat at all times," Becker said.
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