No bee problem

Here’s something contrarian. The Economist says that there’s no shortage of bees in California this year. Far from it, there’s actually a glut. As you might expect, it’s complex:

This year’s Californian bee glut, then, has been caused by a mixture of rising supply meeting falling demand. The price of almonds dropped by 30% between August and December last year, as people had less money in their pockets. That has caused growers to cut costs, and therefore hire fewer hives. There is also a drought in the region, and many farmers are unlikely to receive enough water to go ahead with the harvest. Meanwhile, the recent high prices for pollination contracts made it look worthwhile fattening bees up with supplements over the winter. That may help explain why there have been fewer colony collapses.

The entire article is a useful summary of where things stand on colony collapse disorder, and the clearest conclusion is that almost certainly there is no single cause. A diversity of problems, each exacerbating the others and — what do you know? — a diversity of solutions, each of which seems to improve matters a little.

(I’d like to add that the headline and crossheads of that article are among the best I’ve seen all year: The bees are back in town; Bee good to me; Bee-conomics; Bee off with you. Someone had a lot of fun. And thanks Michael for being so quick off the mark with a tip.)

Nibbles: Cacao, Forbes, Gum arabic, Bees, Private sector, Kumquats, Maize, Edible weeds, Herbs, Medicinals, Banana wine, Cachaca. Obamas’ dog

Nibbles: Bees, Honey, Fertilizers, Desertification, Nutrition, Decor, Mobile phones

Nibbles: Paan, Homegardens, Yams, Apiculture, Sorghum, Asparagus, Vicuna

Invasion of the (edible) killer crabs

Two stories of invasives, one with a silver lining (perhaps), the other not so much.

The Chinese mitten crab has settled in the Thames, causing trouble of varied sorts. Bad. Boffins at the Natural History Museum think it can be harvested and sold in restaurants and special food shops. Good. I look forward to seeing participants at the Henley Royal Regatta dodging around the crab farms.

And from Utah — the Beehive State, ironically — the first sightings of Africanized “killer” bees. As if bees didn’t have enough problems already, what with their colonies collapsing and everything. Never rains but it pours.

LATER: And here’s another invasive you can eat.

LATER STILL: There’s a nice roundup of Colony Collapse Disorder at CABI’s blog.