# It seems to have been a bad winter for bees in the USA

**URL:** <https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/it-seems-to-have-been-a-bad-winter-for-bees-in-the-usa/22211>\
**Category:** General Bee Chat\
**Created:** [June 23, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/it-seems-to-have-been-a-bad-winter-for-bees-in-the-usa/22211 "2019-06-23T14:41:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SnowflakeHoney](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/snowflakehoney/32/7036_2.png) [@SnowflakeHoney](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/SnowflakeHoney)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/it-seems-to-have-been-a-bad-winter-for-bees-in-the-usa/22211/1 "2019-06-23T14:41:40Z")

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…This past winter’s steep drop seems heavily connected to the mites, vanEngelsdorp said. Beekeepers report that chemicals that kill mites don’t seem to be working quite as well and mite infestation is worsening, he said. Those mites feed on the bees’ fats and that’s where the insects store protein and center their immune response…

> **[Survey sees biggest US honeybee winter die-off yet](http://m.news.lee.net/news/national/govt-and-politics/survey-sees-biggest-us-honeybee-winter-die-off-yet/article_3c5c320d-f424-58e0-a9b6-195376062670.html)**
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) — Winter hit U.S. honeybees hard with the highest loss rate yet, an annual survey of beekeepers showed. The annual nationwide survey by the Bee Informed Partnership found...

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**Author:** ![Peter48](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/peter48/32/14625_2.png) [@Peter48](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Peter48)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/it-seems-to-have-been-a-bad-winter-for-bees-in-the-usa/22211/2 "2019-06-24T03:58:14Z")

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Nature being what it is it could be that the mites are becoming immune to the usual chemical treatments, I’m sure I have read that theory on a couple of sites on the WWW. I would shudder if Monsanto got in on the act and came up with a treatment.🤔🤨😟

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**Author:** ![skeggley](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/skeggley/32/27522_2.png) [@skeggley](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/skeggley)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 4:31am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/it-seems-to-have-been-a-bad-winter-for-bees-in-the-usa/22211/3 "2019-06-24T04:31:14Z")

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Get ready to shudder Peter, already happening.

> [@National Geographic. Building bees](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/national-geographic-building-bees/5897):
>
> Thought you may be interested in this article from last years National Geographic magazine.

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**Author:** ![Peter48](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/peter48/32/14625_2.png) [@Peter48](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Peter48)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 4:46am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/it-seems-to-have-been-a-bad-winter-for-bees-in-the-usa/22211/4 "2019-06-24T04:46:26Z")

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Thanks for the link @skeggley I remember when the CSIRO and the Federal Government imported and released the cane toads that they would only eat the sugar cane beetle and when the beetle was eradicated the cane toads would die out starving to death — yeah right!!

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**Author:** ![SnowflakeHoney](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/snowflakehoney/32/7036_2.png) [@SnowflakeHoney](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/SnowflakeHoney)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 6:07am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/it-seems-to-have-been-a-bad-winter-for-bees-in-the-usa/22211/5 "2019-06-24T06:07:04Z")

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Interesting read. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![skeggley](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/skeggley/32/27522_2.png) [@skeggley](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/skeggley)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/it-seems-to-have-been-a-bad-winter-for-bees-in-the-usa/22211/6 "2019-06-24T13:53:42Z")

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More?

> **[Invasion of the ‘frankenbees’: the danger of building a better bee](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/16/frankenbees-genetically-modified-pollinators-danger-of-building-a-better-bee)**
>
> The long read: Beekeepers are sounding the alarm about the latest developments in genetically modified pollinators