Miles de apicultores reportaron pérdidas del 42,1% de sus colonias de abejas durante el año pasado. Esa tasa es más del doble de la norma estimada por el Departamento de Agricultura del país en un 18,7%, la cual la considera económicamente insostenible, sostiene el reporte.
Además, por primera vez la muerte de abejas en verano ha superado a las pérdidas del invierno. "Esa extinción de colonias durante el verano y todo el año es muy problemática" dijo el entomólogo gubernamental Jeff Pettis.
Aunque las causas de tales perdidas aún se desconocen, la muerte de abejas ha provocado polémica en los Estados Unidos. Algunos consideran que el culpable es una nueva clase de insecticida llamado ‘neonicotinoide’, mientras otros lo atribuyen a la varroa, un tipo de ácaro que produce una enfermedad denominada ‘varroasis’.
http://es.rt.com/3qur
14/5/15
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The mass die-off of honeybees appears to be getting worse, posing an acute danger to the food supply that depends on the little insects who do about $10 to $15 billion worth of work pollinating our crops...
ReplyDeleteAn annual survey of 5,000 beekeepers in the US reported a loss of 42% of their honeybee colonies, up considerably from the 35% loss reported during the same period in both 2014 and 2013. The survey, by The Bee Informed Partnership, has surveyed winter losses to colonies since 2006 but has only gathered information on summer and total losses since 2010.
Commercial beekeepers were hit particularly hard, but the most surprising finding was that bee deaths rose last summer, and actually exceeded deaths during the winter months, a new a worrying development.
"We expect the colonies to die during the winter, because that’s a stressful season," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an assistant entomology professor at the University of Maryland and director of the partnership told the New York Times. "What’s totally shocking to me is that the losses in summer, which should be paradise for bees, exceeded the winter losses."......http://sptnkne.ws/k5T