Honeybee-Colony Losses Widened Last Winter, USDA Says (Update2)

Dwindling phosphorus supply, and important component of fertilizers, and decline bee populations suggest higher food prices.

Managed colonies lost to all causes reached 33.8 of the total, compared with 29 percent a year earlier and 35.8 percent during the winter of 2007-2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. About 28 percent of surveyed beekeepers reported losing hives without any evidence of dead bees, a sign of Colony Collapse Disorder, compared with 26 percent the previous year and 32 percent the year before that.

Bees are essential for the health of pollinator-dependent crops such as almonds and blueberries.

Source: bloomberg.com