海角大神

In an almond orchard in California's Central Valley,聽bee聽inspector Neil Trent pried open a buzzing hive and pulled out a frame to see if it was at least two-thirds covered with聽bees.

Trent has hopped from orchard to orchard this month, making sure enough聽bees聽were in each hive provided by beekeepers. Not enough聽bees聽covering a frame indicates an unhealthy hive 鈥� and fewer working聽bees聽to pollinate the almond bloom, which starts next week across hundreds of thousands of acres (hectares) stretching from Red Bluff to Bakersfield.

"The bloom will come and go quickly," said Trent, who works for the Bakersfield-based聽bee聽broker Scientific Ag Co. "The question is: Will the almond seeds get set? It depends if you have enough of a workforce of bees."

That has growers concerned as nomadic beekeepers from across the country converge on the state with their semi-trucks, delivering billions of聽bees聽to the orchards for the annual pollination. Most almond trees depend on bees聽to transfer pollen from the flower of one tree variety to the flower of another variety before fertilization, which leads to the development of seeds.

It's a daunting task: California's orchards provide about 80 percent of the global almond supply. And with almond acreage increasing steadily in recent years, the聽bees聽must now pollinate 760,000 acres (307,500 hectares) of trees. The number of聽bees聽needed is expected to increase as almond demand grows and orchards continue to expand.

Already, more than half of the country's honeybees are brought to California at the end of February for almond pollination, which requires about 1.5 million hives from out of state, and another 500,000 from elsewhere in the state. Honeybees are preferred for commercial-scale pollination, because they are social, build larger colonies than other聽bees, and their hives can easily be moved.

Bee聽brokers, beekeepers and almond growers around the state say there's a shortage of healthy honeybees for this year's pollination, especially after colony collapse disorder took a higher toll this winter. The disorder, in which honey聽bees聽suddenly disappear or die, wipes out thousands of colonies each year.

The shortage has some growers scrambling for聽bees聽鈥� even sub-performers 鈥� as trees are about to bloom, driving up聽bee聽prices again this year, to an all-time high of more than $200 per colony.

"There's definitely a shortage of strong聽bee聽colonies," said Joe Traynor, owner of Scientific Ag, which connects growers with beekeepers. "There is a problem covering all the acres of almonds in the state."

Since it was recognized in 2006, colony collapse disorder has destroyed colonies at a rate of about 30 percent a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Before that, losses were about 15 percent a year from pests and diseases. No one has determined its cause, but most researchers point to a combination of factors, including pesticide contamination, poor nutrition and聽bee聽diseases.

This year, experts say, the die-off has been as high as 40 to 50 percent for some beekeepers.

"We have smaller populations in the hives and higher winter losses," said Eric Mussen, a聽bee聽specialist at the entomology department of University of California, Davis. "Bees聽across the country are not in as good a shape as last year. When you stress them far enough, the聽bees聽just give in."

This year, Mussen said, many聽bees聽did not get enough nutrition because a Midwest drought reduced forage. Conversion of pasture land to corn production for ethanol also reduced the number of flowers producing nectar.

To compensate for forage loss, beekeepers fed聽bees聽more high-fructose corn syrup and other supplements. But such substitutes don't provide all the nutrients pollen does, Mussen said. Malnourished聽bees聽are more susceptible to diseases.

Lance Sundberg, a beekeeper who hauled his hives for almond pollination from Columbus, Montana, lost 40 percent of his聽bees聽this winter due to the drought and mite problems.

"You have to buy聽bees聽elsewhere to pick up your losses, and not everything we have remaining after the loss is very strong," said Sundberg. "I had a tough time fulfilling my obligations to all the growers."

But at least he still has聽bees, Sundberg said. Some colleagues were not as lucky: they lost 75 percent or even 99 percent.

Traynor, the聽bee聽broker, said he's been fielding phone calls from desperate beekeepers and growers who are short several thousand colonies 鈥� but he has no more good聽bees聽to offer them. The shortage will only get worse in the future, he said, as almond acreage grows.

Having strong hives is critical, Traynor said, especially during rainy seasons, because聽bees聽have a short period of flight time when it's dry enough to pollinate. Fewer聽bees聽may not be able to reach all the blooms in time.

In recent years, the Almond Board of California, which represents more than 6,000 growers, has poured $1.4 million into聽bee聽health research. The group also worked on alternatives to reduce growers' reliance on honeybees, said Bob Curtis, associate director of agricultural affairs.

One is the so-called "self-compatible" almond tree, which can set nuts using pollen transferred among its own flowers, thereby needing fewer聽bees.

The group also is urging growers to plant forage to help sustain聽bees聽before and after almond pollination. And it's exploring using blue orchard聽bees, which are solitary聽bees聽that do not live in hives but nest in small cavities, to augment the honeybee workforce. But building up those alternatives will take time.

"It's tenuous right now," Curtis said. "We've got fewer聽bees. And if something goes wrong with the weather, some growers could be in trouble."