Risky Beesness: Beekeepers stung by mysterious colony collapses, harsh weather

Bee colonies have been decimated by a mysterious plague; the weather has been harsh; and production costs have escalated. The demand for honey is increasing, but honey production last year in the United States was under 150 million pounds, the lowest crop reported by the Department of Agriculture since 1945. There’s also the demanding physical labor and, of course, the danger of multiple bee stings.

 

Taz Pfefer shows off his honey bees at his apiary, Buzz’s Botanicals.

“Beekeepers are a different breed of people,” said Bob Verslues, who’s been operating apiaries in Jefferson City for more than 40 years. “If it were so easy, everybody would be into it. I’m 65 years old; my bees have the virus coming in the middle of the summer, and there’s sweat running down my britches. Sure I know people appreciate my time, but they don’t understand what I go through to get their honey.”

Missouri had about 13,000 honey-producing bee colonies in 2007 that supplied 611,000 pounds of honey for an average price of $1.05 per pound, totaling $642,000, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service. The figures from the USDA show Missouri ranked 29th in honey production.

A honeycomb at Walk About Acres in Columbia.

But in Missouri and elsewhere, production has declined because of Colony Collapse Disorder, which results in seemingly healthy bees deserting the hives, leaving the queen bee and larvae behind to die off.  The cause is unknown.

U.S. beekeepers have had 35 percent of their colonies die to various causes since September 2007, according to surveys recently compiled by the Apiary Inspectors of America and a USDA lab. This loss rate is up 10 percent compared with a similar survey conducted a year earlier.

 Pictured is a male bee without a stinger

“Right now trying to keep your bees alive is a challenge,” said Sharon Gibbons, owner of Gibbons Bee Farm in Rocheport and beekeeper of nearly 30 years. “Today our public is so much more understanding. There is a fear that when the bees go away, there’s definitely going to be some major changes in our eating habits.”

Bees pollinate more than a third of the world’s crops, including onions, oranges, cabbage, almonds, apples, soybeans, cotton, flax, berries and nuts. Researchers from all over the world say the crops could become extinct if the bees become extinct.

Taz Pfefer shows off a handful of bees at his apiary, Buzz’s Botanicals.

“We have to be very careful in our world when it comes to food,” said Art Gelder, a beekeeper of 16 years and owner of Walk About Acres in Columbia. “We’re not just losing the honey bees; there’s been a decline in all pollinators, including bumble bees, flies and hummingbirds. Scientists figure that by the year 2035 there may be no bees left. Even Albert Einstein said that if humans lose the honey bees, we would only have about four to five years left.”

Last spring, Gelder lost half of his 84 hives to Colony Collapse Disorder and is now back up to 60.

Taz Pfefer, a beekeeper for 11 years and owner of Buzz’s Botanicals in Ashland, had 25 to 30 hives in past years and now has just seven.

Art Gelder, owner of Walk About Acres inspects his bee hives.

“This year I’m not as enthusiastic as I use to be because watching the bees die is frustrating,” Pfefer said. “It’s just boom, boom, boom every year.” Pfefer said there appears to be multiple causes for the bee losses. “I think all the pesticides used are beating the bees, and the mites are the vectors to spreading the viruses. There’s even some speculation that microwaves are messing with them. Right now I’m playing with using thyme oil, which they’re finding is just as effective in treating the mites as the chemicals.”

Verslues Apiaries also has bees hit hard by the virus and the weather. “Last year, I faired out well with just a 15 percent loss, but the year before, I got hit hard with 40 percent,” Verslues said. “This year hasn’t been the best for me either. There have been flowers, but the temperatures aren’t stable, and there’s been a lot of rain. The hardest thing about beekeeping is that you’re at the mercy of the weather conditions.”

Gibbons, who also lost 40 percent of her hives the spring before last, agreed. She has about 100 hives at her home in St. Louis, and nearly 800 around Rocheport, which are managed by son Chris.

“It was the worst winter we’d experienced in years for bees,” Gibbons said. “There were steady cold temperatures without breaks. Bees need breaks in the cold weather to move around the hive and find honey. When they can’t do that, they starve. We also couldn’t get out to check on the hives because of the weather and ice. Beekeepers in the North wrap their hives, and in the South we don’t do that, so we become a victim.”

In addition to a severe winter, there was the late frost last season, leaving little for the bees to eat in April.

The steamy Missouri summers, during which the honey is extracted, take a toll on the beekeeper, as well.

“The hard part is getting the honey off. When I go out to take honey, I have about a 150-mile round trip to all my hives,” Gelder said. “It could be 90 degrees out there and you’re lifting heavy boxes.”

Which leads — of course — to the occasional sting.

“I intentionally sting myself and use the bee venom as medicine to relieve aches and pains in the joints, as well as lessen the reaction when I do get stung,” Pfefer, who does not wear a protective suit, said. “But getting stung in the face several times is not fun. They only sting when they react to fear, which is a normal biochemical process. It’s like they’re little kittens letting me play with them.”

Kittens may be cuddly, but they’re also known to bite. Most beekeepers are armed with some sort of insurance.

“On our farm we have liability insurance,” Gelder said. “We’ve hosted field trips for the past eight years, and with 2,500 to 3,000 kids coming through every year. We’ve only had one incidence of a kid getting stung. People ask me to have my bees on their property, and I have a list of those people.”

Economic factors are also stressful on the business side of beekeeping.

“From the containers to the transportation, prices have increased,” Gibbons said. “Like everything else, the downfall of our economy affects honey sales. When your funds are limited, honey is not at the top of the list.”

The slowest months of the year for beekeepers are June and July, Gibbons said, “because people’s eating habits change and they’re not baking as much.”

The college student population in Columbia is a large honey consumer, and sales go up significantly when they come back in the fall,” Gibbons said. She believes it’s because people are becoming more health conscious.

“Honey has other uses aside from baking. Local honey is known to reduce allergies to pollen and has other medicinal properties,” Gelder said. “We’ve seen an increase in sales, possibly because of the need for more locally grown and produced foods.”

The profession itself also has health benefits, Pfefer and other beekeepers said.

“Working with the bees is like a meditation. You’re at peace with yourself and not worried about outside issues,” Pfefer said. “I got into it making honey for brewing my wheat beer, and we started Buzz’s to help the hobby sustain itself.”