 |
| Jerry Draheim of Roslin checks out one of his farm's 80-90 beehives. The past year was a tough one for beekeepers like Draheim with cold, wet weather and parasites taking away close to 40 per cent of his bees. Darrell Cole - Amherst Daily News |
ROSLIN - Jerry Draheim's bees are dying at an alarming rate and he's hoping a hot, dry summer will help restore his losses.
"It has been a rough couple of years. I probably lost about 40 per cent of my colonies over the winter," said the Roslin farmer and beekeeper. "It's a combination of things, but it's mostly weather."
Draheim has between 80 and 90 beehives scattered around his property with each having about 40,000 bees. During the summer, that number should increase to about 60,000 per hive.
While weather conditions over the past few summers have caused problems, Draheim said his colony took a hit last August and into the fall with cold, wet weather.
"The bees couldn't collect pollen for their over winter food supply and they couldn't raise young bees that would last through the winter," he said. "The population didn't develop the way it should have and that was one of the big problems."
The situation worsened with the presence of parasitic mites that kill the bees. Draheim said chemicals used to control the mites are not as effective as they used to be.
"They will feed on the bees and the bee larvae," he said. "On the older bees, the wounds tend to collect bacteria and they get sick and die."
Jim Hoeg from Hoeg Brothers estimates he lost about 30 per cent of his colony.
"We can't see any cause except for the bad weather in the fall and late fall. They ate a lot of their food up and didn't make it through the winter," he said, adding there are many theories on the declining bee population including colony collapse and climate change.
Hoeg's bees are used mainly to pollinate the company's blueberry fields. Because of the declining population, he has brought bees in from other areas.
"We have a lot of natural pollinators, but losing the bee population can have a big impact on the blueberry industry," Hoeg said. "It's something we're watching very closely."
Draheim and Hoeg are not alone with other beekeepers reporting huge losses. Generally, beekeepers can expect to lose about 15 per cent of their colony, but beekeepers across North America are reporting larger losses.
The Canadian Honey Council reported last June that during the winter of 2007-08, about 26 per cent of the over 600,000 colonies across the country were lost.
Draheim said beekeepers are taking steps to minimize the impact by feeding the bees food supplements to help them through the winter.
"We have to start feeding a food supplement in the fall, but it's another expense and other thing that we have to figure out how to best do that," he said, adding that he's also looking at breeding practices that will make the bees more resistant to the mites.
Along with producing bees wax and honey, Draheim also sells queen bees to other producers.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
