Hearing Details Need for Healthy Bees

By TROY FORE

ABF Executive Director

Strong words were shared at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on the health of pollinators, but only time will tell whether rhetoric turns into relief.

Pollination users Robert Edwards, left, and Ed Flanagan share notes during a break in the hearing, as ABF Vice President David Mendes, right, looks on.

The hearing was June 26 before the Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture, chaired by Dennis Cardoza of California’s central valley. There were three groups of witnesses: scientists, beekeepers and growers, and users of crops that benefit from pollination and advocates for pollinators in general.

Steve Godlin of Visalia, Calif., is a neighbor to Rep. Cardoza’s district. He told the subcommittee he lost half of his bees last year, starting in mid-July – making him anxious about whether the situation would repeat.

ABF Vice President David Mendes, an East Coast pollinator, said valuable clues to what is happening to bees may be found in data yet to be gleaned from hundreds of hive samples that have not been analyzed – because funds are not available for the lab work.

The two pollination users had the strongest words in support of the need for healthy bees and beekeeping industry. North Carolina farmer Robert Edwards said his family operation has already cut their cucumber acreage in half due to the lack of available honey bee colonies to rent. “No bees; no crops!” he said simply and emphatically. He encouraged the Congressmen to give beekeepers access to the assistance program available to other farmers, especially crop insurance.

Mr. Edward’s comments were echoed by Ed Flanagan, CEO of the United States’ largest grower of wild blueberries from Maine: “No bees; no blueberries!” He said for his operation there was nothing else to do the job. “We [blueberry growers] don’t ask for much from Congress… but we need this [help for bees].”

After Mr. Flanagan concluded his testimony, Chairman Cardoza said that funding should not be an issue in getting answers about Colony Collapse Disorder. In a March 2007 hearing, the subcommittee was told by a USDA witness that the government had adequate funds to do the work. The opening witness at this hearing, USDA-ARS Administrator Ed Knipling, had tried to stick to that line, emphasizing the resources that had been brought to bear on the CCD issue. After hearing from Godlin, Mendes, Edwards, and Flanagan, Rep. Cardoza said that he was putting [USDA] on notice that if he is told a year from now that there were problems with funding, “there’s going to be hell to pay!”

Other witnesses were Dr. Keith Delaplane from the University of Georgia, Maryann Frazier of Penn State, Kathy Pien with Haagen Dazs Ice Cream, Burt’s Bees CEO John Replogle, and Laurie Davies Adams, executive director of the Pollinator Partnership. The opening statements of all the witnesses is available at http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html.

“Testimony today also revealed that the lack of pollinators could further increase food prices,” Rep. Cardoza said in a news release following the hearing. “USDA desperately needs to better coordinate their research and response to this ongoing crisis, and more clearly define their needs, so that Congress can adequately respond.”