Snacks and sweets set for price sting
THE demise of the humble honey bee has long been bemoaned by naturalists. Now it is alarming traders because it threatens to send the prices of nutty snacks and sweets sharply higher as California’s almond orchards are hit by a decline in bee colonies.
A decline in the health of bees is affecting farmers around the world, but there is particular concern among almond growers in the US, who use more than one million bee hives to pollinate their orchards.
The global almond wholesale market, a mainstay for confectioners and cereal manufacturers, is worth about $5-billion (about R50-billion).
The price of renting bees for pollination has already tripled over the past decade to $150 a hive in California, which accounts for 80% of the world’s crop, but some farmers even paid $200 last season.
The rise in pollination costs comes as almond prices hit eight-year highs. The demand for the nut has been backed by healthier living habits, including a growing appetite for almond milk.
“We are holding our breath,” said Dennis van Engelsdorp, research scientist at the University of Maryland, ahead of the next pollination in February.
More than 1.5 million bee hives are needed to pollinate California’s almond orchards every winter, and researchers have become increasingly concerned about the rise in mortality for kept bees.
Over the past seven years, the average winter “die-out” rate has been above 30%, up about 10 percentage points from the historical trend.
“We’re managing fewer bees and they’re dying off at a higher rate,” said Jeff Pettis, the head of honey bee research at the US Department of Agriculture.
Environmentalists have blamed pests, chemicals, pollution and climate changes. Some researchers have blamed “travel stress” as bees are shipped from crop to crop.
Californian almond prices act as a benchmark, so the rise in prices is having an impact in Europe. Alpro, a leading producer of almond milk in Europe, said drought, pollination problems and high demand had raised prices. Although it sourced its almonds from Europe, it was worried about the impact on prices, it said.
The increased expense for almond growers comes as consumer demand rises in China, the biggest export market for Californian almonds.
Eric Mussen, a US bee specialist, said the die-off rate “may be too high for beekeepers to continue paying for replacement colonies”. — © The Financial Times