Columbus — The winter meeting of the New Jersey Beekeepers Association recently highlighted the many
issues facing the state’s honeybees — and therefore the state’s farmers — this season.

The honeybee, which is the state insect, is a necessary part of New Jersey’s agriculture production. Providing
pollination to approximately 80 percent of crops, these busy insects are responsible for more than one-third of
the food found on tables today.

Beatrice Tassot, of Tassot Apiaries in Long Valley, was appointed as the 2007 president of the State
Beekeepers Association at the winter meeting.
One of her goals for the year is to raise awareness of the roles honeybees play in agriculture. She and husband
Jean-Claude run an active apiary producing honey and providing pollination services to farmers throughout the
region.

“Beekeeping is a part of the agriculture landscape. If we don’t have bees, we don’t have fruit. Honeybees are the
insect pollinators for one-third of our food,” Tassot said.

The outlook, however, is currently looking bleak for the bees. The honeybees are under attack this winter. A
multiplicity of factors has combined to make the survival of colonies in the Northeast, and across the nation,
questionable.

A mysterious ailment, now known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, has been affecting hives across the
United States in what could be called epidemic proportions. The Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension
Consortium, formed to address the pest management problems facing beekeepers over the past several years,
recognized CCD as a major threat to the industry.
The Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium issued an alert stating that the severity of the
colony loss across the United States, combined with the dwindling number of beekeepers, could potentially
prove catastrophic to the honeybee population.

Even before the recognition of CCD as a major threat to New Jersey’s bee colonies, the state was attempting to
cope with a loss of beekeepers over the past five or so years, resulting in a decline of almost 50 percent in the
number of New Jersey beekeepers. With about 60,000 honeybees per beehive, the loss of hives has caused a
significant decrease in the state honeybee population.

In 2006 the New Jersey Department of Agriculture offered a program to promote beginning beekeepers,
financing start-up supplies for participants. The program did generate quite a bit of interest in beekeeping,
Beatrice Tassot said, and linked experienced mentors and the beginning beekeepers together.

This year, the resources available through the Department of Agriculture have been decreased, Tassot said. A
short course on beekeeping is to be held in the spring. No other courses are planned.

New Jersey beekeepers are also concerned about the position of state apiarist, left vacant after the recent
retirement of Paul Raybold.With the Varroa mite already causing major losses for New Jersey beekeepers, there
is concern that the agricultural sector may not have enough bees for adequate pollination of many crops this
season.

The exact extent of the loss won’t be known until beekeepers are able to get out and inspect hives, which is
beginning to take place about this time of the year. Apples, peaches, pumpkins, melons and berries are some of
the crops grown in New Jersey that depend upon pollination by managed honeybee colonies.

With the amount of loss around the country, there is concern that replacing decimated colonies will be either
very expensive, or that there will not be an adequate replacement supply of bees.

The rate of decline attributed to CCD has approached 90 percent for some beekeepers in the northeast,
according to the MAAREC data. At Tassot Apiaries, a loss of almost 70 percent of their 160 hives has occurred.
A normal winter die-off would have been no more than about 12 hives, Jean-Claude Tassot said.

The Tassots keep their hives at numerous locations on farms throughout Morris and Hunterdon Counties, and
raise five different species of bees.
Every location and every hive type has been affected.

Another observation made by Jean-Claude Tassot is that the hives that were strong — with adequate food
supplies and vigorous populations going into the winter — have been affected just as much as the weaker hives.
CCD, it seems to him, is not related to the amount of food available to sustain the colony through the winter.

While there is currently no conclusive evidence as to the cause of CCD, plenty of theories, including one based
on evidence from a similar collapse in France during the mid-1990s, abound.

What is known is that beekeepers are finding hives that contain full amounts of food and honey, but no bees at
all.

“Last year American beekeepers from 22 states started noticing the death of a lot of honeybee colonies, with the
same symptoms that French beekeepers registered,” Jean-Claude Tassot said “I personally noticed the same
thing for the two past years, but thought that my losses were due to my mistakes or to the Varroa mite
infestation.”

In France, beekeepers began noticing that colonies began to disappear or to be found dead in front of the
hives. Other colonies were found shivering and unable to move in the hives, Tassot said. He believes that the
situation now occurring in the United States may prove to be related to the situation in France.

The colonies affected in France were found to be those that were pollinating sunflower fields. Dead bees were
also found on the sunflowers. A pattern also began to emerge with colonies that had stored pollen from the corn
crops. As the stored pollen was eaten by the emerging spring bees, the same symptoms associated with the
sunflower pollination occurred.

The missing link between the two crops was the use of systemic pesticides known as “imidacloprid” and “fipronil,”
according to Tassot. These and similar chemicals belong to a newer class of pesticides called neonicotinoid
pesticides.

The chemicals were ultimately banned in France, but the country’s honeybee population had declined
drastically, with a subsequent drop in honey production from 32,000 metric tons to less than half of that over an
eight-year period, he said.

These same chemicals are currently used in the United States on many agricultural crops, raising some concern
among beekeepers that a similar situation is now happening here. This class of pesticides works by blocking a
neuron pathway that is most active in insects, and less active in mammals.
The EPA notes that these pesticides are toxic to honeybees. Interestingly, these are the same pesticides that
are found in common flea control products for dogs and cats.

Preliminary research by MAAREC suggests that it is possible that the bees are consuming fresh or stored pollen
contaminated with these chemicals.
They may then become memory impaired due to the affect on their neuron pathways. Young bees leaving the
hive can’t find their way back. The loss of the juvenile bees impacts the survival of the entire hive, and could
explain the disappearance of entire colonies.

“Recent research tested crops where seed was treated with imidacloprid. The chemical was present, by systemic
uptake, in corn, sunflowers and rape pollen in levels high enough to pose a threat to honey bees.

Additional research has found that imidacloprid impairs the memory and brain metabolism of bees, particularly
the area of the brain that is used for making new memories, according to report released by MAAREC in
December 2006.
Landi Simone, a master beekeeper with 40 hives in the Montville area, cites cumulative stressors as a
contributing factor that could be impacting some of the hives with CCD. She said that monoculture pollination —
which occurs when hives spend a large majority of their time pollinating one crop only — can cause poor
nutrition. Additionally, commercial colonies that move from site to site providing rotating pollination services to
farmers across the country are exposed to numerous disease organisms.

Along with the strong potential for pesticide poisonings, there is also the possibility that GMO plants, which have
been genetically engineered for insect resistence, are detrimental to honeybees, Simone said.
MAAREC is conducting further research on this potential relationship, as well as exploring other possible
reasons or contributing factors in CCD.
Further information on the preliminary research can be found at the Web site, http://maarec.cas.psu.edu.


LONG VALLEY — Tassot Apiaries currently consists of about 160 hives, which are located on many parcels of farmland throughout
the Morris and Hunterdon County areas.
Unlike traditional farmers, who must have land to plant their crops, beekeepers must have crops to feed their bees.
This year, the Tassots will be meeting a growing demand from professional landscapers concerned about the lack of pollination of
small fruit bushes and landscape shrubs on the properties and gardens they maintain. The Tassots will be providing several local
landscapers, as well as individual homeowners, with hives. The couple will manage the colonies and even collect the honey for their
subscribers. Homeowners can reap the benefits of the bees without having to concern themselves with the work involved.

The Tassot have quite a lot of concern for the honeybees going into the 2007 season. The 2006 season was difficult on bees, even
without the mite and the emergence of Colony Collapse Disorder.
The mild winter contributed to problems, Beatrice Tassot said, as the honeybees will leave the hives when temperatures are above
55 degrees. The bees went foraging quite a bit this winter, but of course there was little to pollinate. So they expended excess
energy — requiring consumption of food stores — with little to show. Beekeepers had to supplement the stored honey with sugar
water to keep the bees fed.

Beatrice Tassot is determined to educate the public about the essential role bees play. She wants to continue connecting new
beekeepers to established mentors. She wants the public to realize that honeybee swarms or hives found in and around the home
need to be collected by a beekeeper — many of whom advertise this service — and not killed. The Tassots have also worked to
promote beekeeping through educational outreaches at summer camps, 4-H fairs and other local children’s programs.

For the beekeepers themselves, Tassot would like to see more participation and high-quality displays entered into shows, such as
the New Jersey State Honey Show, held during the State Agricultural Convention. There, beekeepers showcase their products and
promote not only their own businesses, but the beekeeping industry as a whole through creative displays and product design and
quality.

As winner of the Best Exhibitor Overall for the 2007 show, Tassot Apiaries could lead the way. The numerous ribbons they received
for their amber and dark honey, several varieties of mead, beeswax, creamed honey, a honey frame and photography earned them
their way to the top.
“No farmers: no food. No beekeepers: no farmers,” is a motto the Tassots endorse. With Tassot Apiaries leading the way, the role of
the humble honeybee and of the beekeeper, might soon be elevated to the sweet status they deserve.

For further information, visit Tassot Apiaries at: www.tassotapiaries.com or call 908-264-4504. The New Jersey Beekeepers
Association can be found at www.njbeekeepers.org.
Jean-Claude and Beatrice Tassot began their apiary by finding farmers who would allow them to keep beehives on their land. Many
farmers readily agreed, as farmers who don’t keep their own bee colonies traditionally have to pay for pollination services from
commercial beekeepers. With the Tassot’s proposal, the farmer could have pollination for free, and the Tassots could maintain their
hives on the farmer’s land and collect the honey. A win-win situation, Jean-Claude Tassot explained.
Wild honeybee populations have undergone drastic decreases in recent years. Many farmers had noted that their yields of crops, of
which most depend on bee pollination, were significantly decreasing. The benefits of having colonies onsite at the farm made local
farmers very receptive to the Tassots’ proposal.
Based upon the results: honey, soaps, candles and other products made by the Tassots from their hives, and sold via Web site and
through numerous local retail outlets, the idea was fruitful for this beekeeping couple as well as for the crops. Their pure honey,
which is not heated or filtered and comes from local pollen, is a benefit to those suffering from seasonal allergies as well.
Beekeeping as a means to make a living is an intricate art and a lot of work. It isn’t enough to build a hive and collect honey. The
colonies are closely managed to ensure that there is enough pollen available to them, as well as sufficient supplies of nectar and
water. Pesticide and herbicide use can damage bee colonies, yet the colonies are vital to farming, where they may be exposed to
these hazards.
Mites and other infestations can kill a colony. Swarming occurs if the colony isn’t divided at the proper time and the bees become
crowded. And the honey can not simply be taken from the bees. Enough must be left for the colony’s nourishment — especially
during the winter months, when the colony will remain in the hive, surviving on stored food, and possibly on supplemental sugar or
sugar-water provided by the beekeeper.
But despite the hard work involved, the Tassots don’t want to discourage hobbyists.
“Beekeeping as a hobby with a few beehives in a backyard only takes a few hours a week,” Beatrice Tassot said. And even
hobbyists can have a beneficial impact on our ecosystems. “As honey bees visit blossoms to gather the nectar and pollen necessary
for their survival, they help agricultural crops, home gardens and wildlife habitats flourish,” Jean-Claude Tassot said. Bees, he said,
are “an integral and critical component of the agricultural environment.”
Extending farmland assessment and right-to-farm protection to beekeeping professionals is an issue Beatrice Tassot, who was
recently was elected to the post of President of the New Jersey Beekeepers Association for 2007, would like to have addressed.
Because the managed honeybee colonies are so important to crop production, apiarists who manage hives as a business should be
recognized as farmers, she said. Part of that recognition should include some farm assessment tax reductions and right-to-farm
protection, despite the lack of a land base.
“Just imagine my neighbor’s faces if I put hundreds of beehives on my five acres,” Jean-Claude said, referring to the five-acre
minimum needed to qualify for Farmland Assessment in New Jersey. “Honeybees have to be in close to the crops, not concentrated
on my property.”
TASSOT APIARIES

3.01.2007 The New Jersey Farmer:
By Tamara Scully
AFP Correspondent
3.01.2007 The New Jersey Farmer
STATE INSECT AT RISK:
By Tamara Scully
AFP Correspondent