Local beekeepers say hives are thriving
By JEFFREY SAULTON, jsaulton@newsandsentinel.comPARKERSBURG - Despite declining numbers of honey bees reported in parts of the country, beekeepers in the Mid-Ohio Valley report their hives are, for the most part, thriving, experiencing only normal die-offs from season to season.
George Clutter, a bee inspector with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, said in West Virginia the bee population is growing and has been on an upswing since the 1990s.
Clutter said a state-funded cost-sharing program has made is possible to bring in more colonies of bees from breeders in the southern states.
"Last year we brought in 4,000 new colonies and in 1995 there were less than 2,000 colonies in the state," he said. "We have 20,000 colonies today.
"Usually a new colony of five pounds of bees costs about $50, but with the cost-sharing program that cost if $25."
Clutter said some hives will die out due to cold winter weather. He said those are usually hives with a small number of bees. In the winter bees form clusters and the bees will not leave the cluster in an effort to keep warm and as a result they starve.
In a congressional hearing last week, a House Agriculture subcommittee heard testimony from farmers and businessmen that food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved.
In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers have lost 36 percent of their managed colonies this year nationwide.
Clutter said West Virginia beekeepers experienced losses of bees in the 1980s due to problems with mites - tracheal mites in the respiratory systems of bees and varroa mites which attacked bees in the pupal, or development stage, and introduced viruses into hives.
"This may be the same we saw then," he said. "Over the years there has been more research into bees and now studies are looking into things they did not think of before."
Over the years he said a number of new viruses have been discovered among bees. He said they may have been there for many years but only recently discovered. Clutter said the die-off has been at 30 percent.
"A die-off of 30 percent is not good, but it's not as bad as 80 percent which has been seen in some areas," he said. "We have not seen anything related to Colony Collapse Disorder."
Two area beekeepers said they have not heard of anyone with hives experiencing the disorder from their associations.
Teresa Wagoner, of Mid-Ohio Valley Beekeepers in Williamstown, said she had two hives die out because of a low number of bees and a low amount of food stores in the hives.
"We had two of our hives die in 2007," she said. "We knew one was in trouble. It was a new hive and they did not build up a brood chamber as they should have."
Wagoner said the mites were under control and were not a factor.
Larry Helk, president of Tri-County Beekeepers in Auburn, Ritchie County, said he has not seen anything in his area indicate the presence of Colony Collapse Disorder nor has heard any reports from other beekeepers.
"It's just the normal way of the bees," he said. "If they don't have a large cluster, they will not move enough to get food.
"They need to have a significant number of bees, young bees to replace the older bees, to survive the winter."
Scientists say the cause behind the disorder remains unknown. Possible explanations include pesticides; a new parasite or pathogen; and the combination of immune-suppressing stresses such as poor nutrition, limited or contaminated water supplies and the need to move bees long distances for pollination.
The House Appropriations Committee approved $780,000 on Thursday for research on the disorder and $10 million for bee research. The money awaits approval by the full House and Senate.
