Millions of honey bees are dying across U.S. at alarming rate. CT beekeepers are feeling the loss.

 Millions of honey bees are dying across U.S. at alarming rate. CT beekeepers are feeling the loss.

Jenny Hubbard, president of the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary in Newtown, was concerned to hear recently that the sanctuary’s apiary with one million honey bees shrank from 17 hives to just two this winter.

“Our hives for years have thrived here, so much so that in 2024, we actually doubled our hive count,” Hubbard said. “So it was surprising when we saw our beekeeper a month ago and he told us we went from 17 hives to two hives. That was a real cause for concern. Of course, now we know it’s become a national story with major declines in the bee population. Bees are so important and so this is very concerning.”

This year, commercial beekeepers have reported losing around 62% of their colonies over the winter, according to an ongoing Project Apis m. survey that covers more than two-thirds of America’s managed bees. The loss, which has been called “alarming” and “widespread,” is far higher than the usual honey bee colony death rate over winter.

“We don’t really know yet what’s causing it,” said Bill Hesbach, president of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association. “We had a similar mass die off back in 2015, but we still are trying to figure out what is the main cause of colony collapse disorder. There are several theories out there including pesticides and the destructive Varroa mite. But often when they test for these in colony collapse disorder, they are not found.”

The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, which is founded in memory of Hubbard’s 6-year-old daughter who was killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, maintains a honey bee apiary on its 34-acre grounds. Hubbard said the sanctuary doesn’t spray pesticides or insecticides and just finished a three-year native pollinator program.

According to Hubbard, each individual hive is estimated to cost around $250 to replace.

Normally beekeepers will lose around 40% of their colonies over winter, so 62% is a dramatic increase in bee deaths nationwide, according to Hesbach. This year’s bee die off accounts for over hundreds of millions honey bees and may have far-reaching impacts for consumers looking to purchase honey.

Several theories have been put forth including pesticides, a parasitic mite and an unknown phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.

The Varroa mite, a common and destructive honeybee pest, kills bees by weakening them and making them vulnerable to viruses. It is estimated to cause millions in damages each year to beekeepers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The mite attaches itself to bees much like a tick engorges on humans.

While pesticides sprayed on crops and the Varroa mite both pose major risks for honey bees, bears and skunks can also be destructive predators to colonies, according to Hesbach. Skunks can scratch at hive entrances and eat bees as they fly out of their nest. The animals are seldom deterred by bee stings.

“I got lucky this year and had a 100% survival rate, I’m very thankful” said Lauren Doninger of Yellow House Honey in Hamden. “I know others may not have been so lucky.”

Doninger, who manages a backyard bee colony off her home on Lincoln Street, said that beekeepers are struggling to buy bees as demand has soared while the insects numbers have declined.

“This year I’ve had so many more calls from people who want to buy bees. So early on I sold two nucs, which contain a mated queen who has already begun laying eggs, worker bees and brood in various stages. But I keep getting calls and it’s because people just can’t get bees. They’re in very high demand.”

Doninger said that she credits her success to a carefully executed pest management plan, something that larger commercial bee keepers may find harder to execute, as they have more bee colonies to protect. Now as temperatures begin to climb into the warmer months, honey bees are beginning to awake from their winter slumber, and soon tens of thousands will be on the move across Connecticut looking to form new colonies.

Swarming, the process by which honeybees reproduce to form new colonies, usually begins in spring and can last through June, according to the Connecticut Beekeepers Association. A swarm is a group of bees in transit from their original hive to a new home. Once a new location has been identified, the swarm will move on to settle into their permanent colony.

The first stop after bees swarm is to create a temporary “bivouac” site near the original hive, according to Hesbach. The bivouac is just a temporary perch where hundreds of bees will swarm to and cluster as scout bees look for a new permanent dwelling.

“While the bees can still sting once they swarm, they usually won’t,” Hesbach said. “The only time a honey bee colony will sting you is if it has a permanent location to live in and you go and disturb it. So they will then display a guard behavior to defend their colony.

“But if they are swarming in a tree, that’s not a home they can defend. So you can actually go up and touch them and they won’t sting you at all. I never wear a bee suit or use smokers when they are in a swarm. They’re completely docile.”

Swarming often happens when a honey bee colony outgrows its home, becomes too congested or too populated for pheromones to properly spread around the colony and tell worker bees what to do, according to Hesbach. While swarming may begin as early as April, peak swarming season begins in May, as honey bees look to settle into permanent summer dwellings.

Bees will often swarm to tree branches but can sometimes find themselves clustering in large masses on the sides of houses or dwellings. Often times it may signal that the bees have found an opening in the siding of a structure. But while such large clusters of bees can seem dangerous, swarms are temporary and the bees often will move within a day or two.

“An extermination company will not touch a honey bee swarm, there’s actually a state law that they cannot kill honey bees outside,” Hesbach said. “Even if they’re found inside, which they are then legal to kill, most won’t touch them because of the stigma of killing honey bees. So the best thing to do if you find a swarm on your house is to call your local beekeeper. They can safely remove them and transport the colony.”

Hesbach said that it is vital to protect honey bees as their population continues to see declines nationally.

To help increase honey bee populations and educate the people who care for them, the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary is hosting a series of Backyard Beekeeping classes starting April 12, which will run through the fall.

“The classes are actually taught at our apiary, so they are interactive and hands-on,” Hubbard said. “The classes are really for anybody and open to the public. Whether you already have a backyard apirary or are looking to establish one. It’s a great way to learn about beekeeping. We will go over the threats to bees, how to form a healthy colony and the benefits of bees.”

The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary is located at 8 Commerce Road in Newtown. The sanctuary said they are taking donations to help build back its apiary. More information can be found at cvhfoundation.org.