Nationwide decline in honey bees concerns Little River beekeeper

A nationwide drop in honey bee colonies is impacting a Little River beekeeper, who spoke to News13 about her concerns of the decline of the bee and the consequences it may have on humans.

Beekeeping for six years at Carolina Bays Apiary, Patricia King says she’s never seen this large of a decline of honey bees.

“I started before winter. I had 60 hives and I’m down to 30 now,” she said.

King said the massive decline is alarming and comes from several contributing factors. She said one of them is a parasitic mite, which is destructive to the honey bee.

“The honey bees have just as many enemies inside the hive as they do outside the hive,” King said. “And that comes with varroa mite and all the varroa mite carries many diseases that transfers into the honey bees.”

Clemson University bee expert Ben Powell says nationwide, bees have seen a roughly 62% decrease — equivalent to 1.1 million bee colonies.

As new developments come into the area — on top of natural disasters, including wildfires and hurricanes — King says their natural habitats are dwindling.

“The bees have nowhere to go, just like the other animals. They’re landlocked,” King said. “So it will be no surprise to have a little swarm of bees in your palm tree in your backyard.”

With just a single bee producing 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey during its lifetime, King says she won’t know how much money she has until harvesting season in June, estimating she’ll only have 600 to 800 pounds from colonies like these instead of her usual 1,000 pounds of honey because of the decline.

“It also affects our livestock industry. If we don’t have enough honey bees to produce the grains and the grass and the corn and so forth to feed our pork and beef products, then those will dwindle,” King said. “But I do foresee almonds leaving our plate within the next year or so. If we lose the bees in four years, we are going to be extinct too. And it’s a disturbing thing, because it’s slowly come to be a reality.”

King says you can help the bees by planting a garden with native plants and trees, as well as cutting back on pesticides. Leaving out small bowls of salt water for them to drink can also help.

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