Keeping the Faith: Building the next beekeeping generation

Let’s start with a little review of current events: At no time in human history has beekeeping been bigger than it is right now. There are presently more bees under cultivation worldwide than ever before, which is great for us, from hobbyist to mega farmer, but there are some downsides too. While pure math doesn’t lie, statistics can be manipulated. We recently went thru a bit a fear mongering where suddenly the non-beekeeping media was going wild with chicken little end of the world puff piece reporting on the demise of the human race because…

Bees were dying in numbers never recorded before. The media didn’t try to understand the study they were basing their chin wagging on, they just wanted the impactful quote, the alarming bits but without the substance. Add in the sheer hubris we humans are prone to when we consider our place in the universe, in this case the last couple hundred years of written record keeping being the sum of all knowledge… garbage occurred.

The nationwide study was deeply flawed, and the theories extrapolated from the flawed data were indeed alarming until investigated and a little critical thinking applied. The ACBA’s monthly meeting attendance list on a good night could account for roughly 5-10% of the original studies 700+ national respondents. The entire state of South Carolina was defined by four survey participants. One of whom lost his bees to a bear, so for us right off the bat 25% of the statistical data was irrelevant to the initial conclusions based on the “loss” numbers.

Noise was made. More surveys were sent out, and the respondent count rose to over 1,100 if I’m not mistaken. It may have gotten larger since I last looked. While all of that was going on folks were asking questions around the confines of the study and getting to the bottom of the big scary numbers of 50-60% or more, colony loss. The answer they came up with? We were doing it to our bees ourselves. Not all of us, but commercial beekeepers had picked up a bad habit, mostly I’m sure to cut down on the cost of doing business and sweat equity. A very popular varroa treatment was being applied out of compliance with the directions and the mites were adapting to it, which enabled them to become resistant and wreak havoc in an industry that is already high stress for bees.

Fixable. Not the end of the world.

A new unrelated study has emerged from Europe where they have gone ahead and listed the honey bee as an endangered species. Ohhh!!! Scary!!! What is going on over there?!?

It’s us, of course it’s us.

Over there they reportedly have more bees under cultivation, being kept, than exist in the wild. It isn’t all honey bees that are endangered over there, its wild honeybees, and it’s not that they are dying it’s that they are being genetically altered by all the bees being kept, where we humans are selecting for species and the genetic level instinctual behaviors that we find beneficial. I don’t have an answer for their problem. I certainly recognize the value of having “untainted” genetic stock available to ensure the diversity of the species. But short of shutting down their entire beekeeping industry and eradicating all of the colonies being kept, I can’t see how they have a chance in maintaining the relative purity of their “wild” honey bees.

Not that they won’t try that…

And of course, their statistic of how many bee colonies are being kept over wild bee colony count is, I have no doubt, based on someone having built a mathematical model and exporting the result they think, theoretically, to be true. I can think of a few of those types of models that haven’t worked out as envisioned. Do I trust science? Absolutely, but without doubt, science becomes dictatorial dogma and doubting “theory” is fundamental to the process of discovery. Sadly, we here in the States are completely unable to help maintain their native wild genetic diversity as we, including all of our curated European honeybees, are genetically divergent immigrants whether we walked, sailed or flew to this continent.

On our immediate horizon here in “The South” is the Yellow Legged Hornet, and really it is going to be up to us to manage the new pestiferous invader. The example set in Europe where government was relied upon has failed spectacularly. Nest eradication funding was wiped out very early and with no new funds being allocated, the municipalities who were responsible for the task plead poverty and from what I’ve been told do absolutely nothing anymore. The beekeepers over there are managing, sometimes. One year an apiary will get wiped out and the bee yard right next door won’t even be touched. Some apiaries under attack by these pests are baiting traps outside every single hive and having to empty them a few times a week just to try and keep enough bees in the colony so that it survives. We are obviously not there, here, yet… yet.

DNA testing on a number of yellow legged hornet nests in Europe reportedly all trace back to one original queen. That is an ominous statistic. Logic would dictate that here; the genie is surely out of the bottle already. We, you and I, as the beekeepers who are going to be most directly (and sooner rather than later) affected by the new threat have an opportunity to try and get ahead of the curve. When I reached out to beekeepers who have been combating this pest for the last twenty years, they had things to say about what works and what doesn’t. The picture they painted was that this too was manageable. Even if all we can learn from them is what to expect, knowing is half the battle right? Hopefully the University guys working this infestation have an “ah ha!” moment that minimizes the impact of the problem coming right at us.

In the meantime, life does go on.

Exemplifying this, in early October ACBA members Dee and Tony Olekas along with other regional presenters participated in the Belton Heritage Days Festival and gave talks (in period costumes no less!) on the history of beekeeping from colonial times circa 1622, to the 1850’s, to our modern day, to well over 800 middle and home school students. There were over 10 artisans who demonstrated colonial crafts, did storytelling, and displayed many aspects of the 1800s lifestyle. Dee and Tony gave 25-minute-long presentations, which included an observation hive that was a huge hit as most everyone got to see the blue marked Queen.

At the very end of the talks all the kids got a honey straw as a treat. No doubt the folks corralling all those young bee enthusiasts really appreciated the boost in energy level…

From Belton South Carolina to Stockholm Sweden, from preschool to middle school, we beekeepers are keeping the faith. Local clubs, university programs, hobbyists, and mercantile endeavors, all of us, are working to ensure that the practice of keeping bees is handed down to new friends, in the classroom, in our apiaries, in Joe Kelly’s back yard. His wife, Lynne, passed in mid-august. A prayer or two for him and his family in this time would I am sure, be appreciated.

Many of the folks that have been gifting their time and knowledge are aging out, stepping back to focus on other things, dealing with a bit more on their plate than they actually want or need… In November the ACBA business meeting takes place and we have an opportunity to step up and step in to take some of the tasks necessary to keeping our club active and invigorated going into the next couple of years. Please consider standing up and helping continue the associations efforts in bringing the next generation of beekeepers into being.

Currently all board positions within the ACBA are open, we do have a couple of incumbents but, if you really want a particular job by all means throw your veil in the ring.

More information on ACBA board positions can be found HERE

Kelly Davis

Member