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Text and photos by Tina L. Lavallee | June 2005

New Blood: Key to Shortage

Dr. Tarpy believes that new blood is the key to reviving the bee population and is exploring ways of attracting first-timers to the art of apiculture. With this goal in mind, N.C. State initiated the New Beekeeper Cost-Sharing Program in February 2005 with funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation. The education/ research program will give two colonies of bees, complete with hives, to 250 approved applicants. The applicants are required to join a local beekeeping organization as well as provide regular data on their hives. The bees chosen for the program are a select strain of Russian honeybees that have demonstrated natural resistance to the Varroa mite. Response to the program has been overwhelming, with more than 2,700 applications received for the available 250 spots. It is hoped that participants will be encouraged to make beekeeping a life-long hobby or even a business, thus increasing the overall bee population.
North Carolina has picked a good time to advance the public awareness of honeybees. “There are more bee products available now than ever before,” says George Byrum. “You find hive products in all sorts of forms, from soaps and lip balms to candles.” The popularity of national brands such as Burt’s Bees proves that bees do a lot more than produce honey. However, some of the honeybee’s most vital benefits are more subtle.

Gardeners have long been aware of the increased yields in fruit and vegetables due to bee pollination. Now the task of pollination is taking on a crucial role in the development of North Carolina’s post-tobacco agricultural economy. The state’s bee shortage comes at a time when many tobacco farmers are switching to crops such as cucumbers and melons, which depend on insect pollination for profitable yields. Bees collect pollen grains on their legs as they visit flowers in search of nectar and brush the pollen off inside other flowers along their route, thus allowing fertilization to occur. “Research shows that a single cucumber flower must be visited at least 12 times in order to bear fruit,” says Dr. Tarpy. “It’s easy to see why the state needs a large, stable number of honeybees.”

In the past, crop pollination was easily accomplished by colonies of wild bees, but today’s farmers may need to rent hives from commercial pollinators to get the job done. Commercial pollinators often keep hundreds of hives that are leased for a specific period to allow pollination of a grower’s crop. Currently, North Carolina has only a handful of large professional apiaries to handle the growing number of acres in need of pollination. Farmers can hire out-of-state pollination services if necessary, but they hope that new local beekeepers will eventually fill this void as well.

State officials believe that their actions will be enough to avert a potential crisis, but much depends on public participation. The Varroa mite makes it impossible to restock wild colonies, but there is still time to stabilize the bee population and control mite infestation if enough people become involved as beekeepers. The Cost-Sharing Program is a start, but many more interested individuals are needed to bolster the ranks. Only with the support of dedicated caretakers will North Carolina resonate again with the music of the honeybee.

Tina L. Lavallee is a member of Randolph EMC and has written for Mid-Atlantic Farm Chronicle and Country Folks Grower, among other publications.