Latest survey of honey bee loses in Virginia shows colony deaths near 33 percent

Virginia continues to see steep honey bee colony losses.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says a survey from October through April found that nearly 33 percent of managed honey bee colonies in the state died. The rate is higher than the national loss figure for the same period, but lower than the honey bee deaths recorded over the winter of 2012-13.

The losses that reporting period were 44.6 percent.

The survey was conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership. A state-by-state survey found that Virginia ranked 20th of the 47 reporting states for the highest percentage of honey bee colony loss over last winter.

Keith Tignor is the state apiarist at VDACS. He says the survey shows the state continues to lose bees at an alarming rate.