Parkersburg bee population has declined due to environmental causes

Parkersburg bee population has declined due to environmental causes

Bee populations across the country have declined rapidly in the past year.

The national bee population has decreased by 50% in the past year. W.Va. State bee populations have decreased by 35-40% just this year.

Entomologists across the country are currently trying to find a cause for the decline, however the cause remains unknown.

Bob Spencer, co-owner of Bearsville Bees, said the bee population in the Mid-Ohio Valley have decreased due to multiple environmental factors.

The first factor is last year’s drought. The drought affected local vegetation, which serves as a food source for the bees. Without their food source, they are not able to collect enough food to store in the hive.

The second factor is the frigid temperatures from this past winter. When the temperature starts to warm up, bees venture out to go to the bathroom which keeps their hives clean. The cold temperatures kept them inside which out the bees at risk of disease.

Spencer said there are ways we can protect our local colonies.

"Number one, quit using insecticides and pesticides on our lawns. It’s nice to see a nice green lawn, but where those dandelions and all those wildflowers that we see, that’s what they need to survive," said Spencer.

There are multiple species of bees. Beekeepers of the Mid-Ohio Valley utilize honeybees and harvest the excess honey from their hives. There are multiple breeds of honeybees. Bearsville Bees have Russian honeybees, which are more tolerant to the cold and are resistant to mites.

Bees work together to make their hive a comfortable place to live. When honeybees are born, they take care of the new bees that follow them. When they are replaced, they move on to fulfill other roles such as Undertaker bees and Guardian bees. Then, they graduate to become a field bee and collect pollen.

Bees are responsible for pollinating 30% of our food supply. They are the only insect that makes a food product for us.

Spencer said bees are essential to our way of life.

"So, the environmental impact of again and the chemical, the pesticides, those kinds of things, it’s the only bee, bees are the only insect that make a food product for us and they’re responsible for pollinating a huge amount of our crops," said Spencer.

Beekeepers in the Mid-Ohio Valley are working to maintain the current bee population and encourage growth. They are taking larger hives and dividing them into two, leaving room for more baby bees to be born.

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