For more than a decade, we’ve been hearing mainstream media headlines talk about colony collapse disorder and the threat to the nation’s pollinators — and tacked onto that was lots blame against today’s farmers and technologies. Turns out that since 2006, when CCD was first identified, there has been a steady increase in honeybee populations. Now, we’re looking at bee numbers reaching a 20-year high, according to data pulled by The Washington Post.
“Beemaggeon” — or whatever media click-baity name people wanted to give it — is something that is being addressed, and has been for many years. After all, companies like Syngenta and Bayer and Monsanto have long had pollinator programs in place, though anti-GMO groups have opposed pollinator efforts by those same companies. (To what end, we’re not sure, since it looks like the ag companies are helping in a big way.)
The Washington Post’s story is really no surprise — just a few weeks ago, we reported that the rate of colony loss hit a years-long low point, but that news largely flew under the radar amid the broader CCD blame agenda from anti-ag activists.
Anecdotal data supports the hard data, as many farmers we have spoken with who have hives have been reporting that things are definitely looking up in recent years. If you want to see where honey data is right now, which is a good measure of CCD, check out this link.
