When listening to the many news reports on the disappearance of bees and the rise of colony collapse disorder, it sounds like the world is well on its way to being bee-less. Local beekeeper Arvin Pierce says this just isn’t true.
“If you have healthy bees, they are going to live.”
Pierce has been keeping bees for 11 years on his land in Lowder, IL. Among his turkey and goat pens are between 60-80 hives of bees. “Bee Boxes” fill every available space on the land. Pierce also “rescues” bees, and has several tree trunks and even a porch railing that is home to a hive of bees.
“There have been claims that there aren’t as many wild bees as there used to be. However, every summer I couldn’t keep up (with rescues). In fact, I couldn’t even finish all the calls I had from people wanting me to rescue swarms, and I am not the only one in the area that does rescues,” Pierce said. “Everybody (beekeepers) has had more calls in the recent summers. There seems to be this misinformation that there’s just not as many bees as their use to be.”
Recent studies have shown that 40 – 50 percent of colonies have been dying off. Pierce attributes this to the fact that the studies revolve around managed hives.
“There is not a study that has been made of the feral or wild bees that are out there,” Pierce says.
This may be due to the fact that it is much harder to keep an accurate observation on wild bees, as these hives are up trees or in barns, and not easily accessible and nearly impossible.
The term Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has frequented news stories as a reason for deaths of managed hives. In CCD, the entire hive either disappears or dies, with little or no apparent reason as to why.
“Mostly the big pollinators are experiencing that. That’s because they move their bees around so much. They also medicated their bees,” Pierce says.
Some commercial beekeepers medicate their bees to protect against pests, and these medications have recently been discovered to add to the number of bee deaths as well.
“I’ve been keeping bees for 11 years and haven’t treated them with medications. It seems the folks that aren’t treating bees are having much better luck with their survival,” Pierce says.
Some causes of CCD include, hive beetles and pesticides used by farmers on farm fields. Pierce says he can’t attribute any of his hives deaths to CCD.
“All of my hives are right along farm land. If that was the case then my bees should be dead,” said Pierce.
Hive beetles are another problem beekeepers face. Hive beetles can cause damage to the comb structures within a hive, as well as stored honey and pollen, as well as abandonment of the hive. Pierce says the bees do have ways of fighting back.
“The bees corral the small hive beetles. They don’t let them just wander through the hive. The bees will hold them off in a small area and use their propolis (a substance bees use as a sealant against invaders or to protect from winter winds) to seal them into the area.” says Pierce. “The biggest threat we (beekeepers) have is the method of farming being done.”
There is not enough wild, untended land growing for the bees to find home or food in.
“Farmers either mow it, spray it or farm it. They manage every inch of their land these days,” says Pierce. Bees can only fly up to 3 miles to find food. “The only problem is their little wings are only designed to flap so many times”
Many bees die in the summer from over-working, or won’t be able to bring enough food back.
Pierce enjoys educating people on bees, and is often accompanied by his wife, Colleen, who also enjoys beekeeping. Pierce can be reached through his website www.acbees.org.
Melissa Branson can be reached at [email protected] or 217-786-2311.