These days, it's tough to be a bee: Concerns mount over wild bee decline in NJ and beyond

For six summers, researchers at Rutgers University visited the watermelon fields of central New Jersey and painstakingly recorded the number of bees spreading pollen from flower to flower to produce fruit that in a month would be sitting under a Jersey Fresh banner at a farm stand or supermarket.

What they found was concerning.

The bee population plunged in the last two years of the project, reflecting a global trend that saw bee populations drop in New Jersey and beyond, a newly published study by Rutgers researchers shows. Driving the decline was the number of wild bees, which dropped at a greater rate than honeybees managed by beekeepers.

"The number of bees changed massively, especially in the last two years," said Andrew Aldercotte, a Rutgers doctoral candidate and the study's lead author. "But we also saw a lot of inconsistency with numbers that bounced around a lot from year to year.”

Aldercotte said that unless more data is collected, he can't conclude whether the drop is a trend that shows a threat to the food supply or a normal variation over the course of some years.

At least for now, it doesn't appear that drops in the bee population have had a significant impact on the quality or quantity of New Jersey's fruits and vegetables, which generate almost $400 million in annual sales, said Peter Furey, executive director of the nonprofit New Jersey Farm Bureau.

But it's clear that bees are being hit hard everywhere, including in New Jersey.

Blame the varroa destructor

About 28% of the state's honeybees were being lost each year a decade ago. Those annual losses have grown to as much as 50% in recent years, according to the Bee Informed Partnership, a consortium of scientists and beekeepers.

While there can be many reasons for declines in bee populations, the chief culprit for the recent decline is believed to be a parasite with a comic-book villain name: the varroa destructor.

In addition to feeding on developing larvae, the varroa destructor is also a vector for deadly viruses that affect honeybees. And it's found around the globe. Australia destroyed an estimated 15 million infected honeybees this summer in an attempt to stop the spread.

Frank Mortimer, a Cornell University master beekeeper, said it's important for all beekeepers to treat for these parasitic mites, because the viruses that kill honeybees often spread to some native bee species, such as the ones cited in the Rutgers report.

"Beekeepers must be stewards for all pollinators, as caring for their bees impacts all the other bees around them," said Mortimer, who keeps bees at his home in Bergen County.

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The Rutgers study showed that between 2005 and 2012, visits to flowers on New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania farms by managed and wild bees declined by 37%, from about 31 visits to each flower per hour to about 20. Wild bee visits declined by 58% over the time period of the study — the tail end of which coincides with the start of a sharp decline of honeybees in New Jersey.

Because bees play a critical role in crop production, their decline would have a significant impact on New Jersey, where agriculture is still the state's third-largest industry, behind pharmaceuticals and tourism. Agriculture generates more than $1 billion in revenue each year in the state, with fruits and vegetables coming in second only to nursery and greenhouse production. Major crops in New Jersey, including cranberries, blueberries, apples and cucumbers, rely on pollination from bees to produce high-quality fruits and vegetables in abundance.

Furey, of the Farm Bureau, said he hasn't heard from growers about any major problems. Most farms hire commercial beekeepers who supply a sufficient number of hives to keep the state's crop yields high, he said.

"This seems a little surprising, though everyone respects the critical role of bee pollination and is wary of the threats to native bee populations," Furey said of the Rutgers findings.

While domesticated honeybees do the bulk of the pollination of crops, studies have shown that many fruits and vegetables get more thoroughly pollinated when domesticated bees work in combination with wild native bees, Mortimer said.

There are a lot of reasons why wild bees are on the decline, but a big part of it is the loss of their natural habitat, he said. While 248,000 acres of farms have been preserved in New Jersey, those fields are still prime land for housing developers.

"The more we develop the land around us, the more it impacts the vulnerable at-risk pollinators," said Mortimer, author of "Bee People and the Bugs They Love." "Many native bees are very specialized, and when we remove their habitat, they are not able to survive."

New Jersey bee losses

The amount of annual bee colony loss in New Jersey has increased from a decade ago.

  • 2020-21: 48%

  • 2019-20: 31%

  • 2018-19: 41%

  • 2017-18: 46%

  • 2016-17: 51%

  • 2015-16: 50%

  • 2014-15: 47%

  • 2013-14: 38%

  • 2012-13: 41%

  • 2011-12: 26%

  • 2010-11: 28%

Source: Bee Informed Partnership

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Concerns mount over bee decline in NJ and beyond