Honeybee Deaths Resume in U.S. Hives, USDA Reports (Alan Bjerga)

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By Alan Bjerga

-- Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- A malady that has killed billions of bees since 2006, threatening about $15 billion in pollinated crops, is devastating hives again, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's top honeybee researcher.

The effects of the renewed onset of Colony Collapse Disorder won't become apparent until month's end, when California almond growers begin to assess the quality of crop pollination, said Jeffery Pettis, research leader of the USDA's bee laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland. Tests of bee colonies are showing a nationwide recurrence of the disorder, he said.

``We're still losing a great number of bees, and we still don't know why,'' Pettis said yesterday in a telephone interview. ``We're still trying to find patterns.''

The disorder, characterized by mass disappearances or deaths of bees with devastated immune systems, affected about a quarter of all U.S. hive keepers in 2006 and 2007.