At the start of a new year, some people make resolutions to better themselves, vowing everything from losing weight or cleaning out the garage, to quitting smoking. But here in the South Valley, a growing number of people have resolved to save the honey bee – and with good reason.
It turns out that a quarter of America’s diet depends on the pollinating activities of bees. Every year, hard-working honey bees rack up countless frequent flyer miles as they pollinate more than $15 billion worth of our nation’s crops, according to the National Resources Defense Council: everything from staple foods such as apples, beans and wheat, to grasses that feed our livestock and even the cotton that goes into the clothes we wear.
Unfortunately, honey bees are a population at risk. Beekeepers across the country are losing an average of one-third or more of their colonies annually. These tiny pollinators are battling a host of threats including parasites, pesticides, unfavorable habitats and ineffective colony management practices.
And if that weren’t enough, a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report on honey bee health adds a syndrome known as Colony Collapse Disorder to these threats. Colony Collapse Disorder, identified in 2006 but not yet fully understood, is being blamed for sudden disappearances of entire colonies of bees.
After more than seven years of research studies, there is ample data to show that improved honey bee survival is critical to agriculture and food security. The USDA and other organizations point out the current estimate of 2.5 million U.S. honey bee colonies represents only a fraction of the number required to support agricultural demand going forward. It appears heroic efforts are needed in order to enhance honey bee habitat, ensure more judicious pesticide use, improve colony management techniques and encourage stronger bee stocks if honey bees are to flourish once again.
On a local level, South Valley growers, beekeepers and other stakeholders have been concerned about these issues for some time. Many are working together to improve conditions for honey bees.
Beekeepers Lead the Way
For more than 15 years, Wayne Pitts has provided beekeeping expertise, services and support primarily to small-scale beekeepers from Woodside to Aromas through his Gilroy-based Uvas Gold Apiary.
“California beekeepers may lose as much as 35 percent of their hives this year,” Pitts said, referring to 2013. “To offset the potential losses, we work with the colonies and stimulate the bees to make more new queens. The process is referred to as splitting the hive, and allows us to multiply the number of hives in the spring and summer. By reaching our target number of hives by September, we improve our chances of having a healthy bee population the following spring.”
Splitting the hive involves transferring the queen away from a hive of developing bees.
“Every fertilized egg has the potential to become a new queen,” said Pitts, who is president of the Gilroy Beekeepers Association. “Worker bees produce a substance known as royal jelly that sustains the queen and her larvae for their first three days of life. Normally there is only one queen bee in a hive, and unless she is unhealthy or dying, the newly-developed bees leave the jelly by the fourth day to become infertile worker or drone bees. But if we move a healthy queen out of the hive during the first three days, and encourage a quantity of developing bees to stay put into the fourth day, they can become queens. With more queen bees we can start more new hives.”
Apiarist Gene Brandi and his son manage 2,000 honey bee colonies across 12 Northern California counties from their base of operations in Los Banos. Brandi and son prefer to “winter” their bees in California, often moving them west to California coastal areas, rather than shipping them out of state and then back again in the spring.
“The bees are better off with less time in transport and less time in agriculture-intensive areas,” Brandi said. “They thrive when they can forage on the pollen and nectar of California coastal native plants like sage, field mustard and ceanothus, which are available in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.”
Local beekeepers’ sentiments were echoed in the USDA report, which called for a land use policy that provides pesticide-free areas with blooming plants where beekeepers can safely place colonies. It also cautioned that while diet supplements are essential in large-scale beekeeping operations, they are only a temporary substitute for high-quality floral resources provided by Mother Nature.
Brandi’s clients have anywhere from 15 to 500 acres of crop fields or orchards, and some operate greenhouses that require pollination of berry crops.
Brandi said the rule of thumb for transporting hives is less than two feet or more than two miles – anything in between and the bees may get confused. Bees generally search for food and water within a two-mile radius of their hive, so if the hive is relocated more than two miles away, they instinctively reset landmarks and flight patterns so they can explore new territory.
Taking a somewhat different approach to beekeeping is Maiden Flight Apiaries, which operates in Gilroy and Morgan Hill. Co-owner Dave Stocks and his partners develop and manage hives primarily for local organic gardeners and orchardists who want the benefit of honey bees but don’t want to deal with managing them. Despite losing close to half of his hives last year and not being able to pinpoint any single cause for the loss, Stocks is optimistic.
“Parasitic varroa mites are a problem for bees, but we’ve decided not to use miticides in our hives because these chemicals may be as harmful to the bees as the mites themselves,” he said. “If the mites invade our hives, the bees that survive will have a resistance and improve the strength of the bee population over time.”
Stocks and his partners are splitting some of the hives to start new colonies and offset losses. They are also putting out nesting blocks for native bees, believing that a blend of native and managed bees could be promising.
“There are many species of native bees,” Stocks said. “While they are not honey producers, they are excellent pollinators.”
Local Growers and Homesteaders are Bee Loyalists
Dan and Bonnie Carroll maintain about 700 hives at their Bonnie Bee Farms in Morgan Hill. In early spring, the bees are transported to the Central Valley where they pollinate the Carrolls’ almond orchards, and are then returned to Morgan Hill to pollinate their South Valley cherry fields. They hired Gene Brandi to provide commercial beekeeping services so they could focus on farming operations.
“A wetter winter this year will help,” Carroll said. “If we don’t have more wildflower pasture for the bees to forage this year, we can supplement their food supply, but purchasing syrup and a pollen substitute is expensive, and it’s not going to be as nutritious.”
For Liza and Dave Garibaldi, bees were a logical addition to their six-acre sustainable farm on Watsonville Road in Morgan Hill. Last year they contacted Wayne Pitts to set up and maintain a hive on their property.
“Homesteading in general is holistic, and bees play a big role,” Liza Garibaldi said. “They pollinate our vegetable garden, fruit trees, herbs, wild grass and the blackberries that grow along our creek bank. We’ve already produced several gallons of honey in our first harvest and it’s absolutely delicious.”
For the uninitiated, the prospect of beekeeping can be overwhelming, with options that range from renting bee hives and paying for full hive management services, to building hives from scratch or ordering pre-made honeycombs.
“Wayne is so knowledgeable that we invited him to teach a series on beekeeping as part of the sustainable farming workshops we plan to offer at our farm next year,” Liza Garibaldi said.
Honey bee trends have also impacted South Valley mead maker Noah James, who founded Alderin’s Meadery in 2011. James markets his meads, fermented honey-based beverages, through San Martin’s Lightheart Cellars.
“In the last year or two the price of honey has doubled,” James said. “It’s a supply and demand issue. Fewer hives means less honey and a heftier price tag.”
James purchases roughly 200 pounds of honey for every barrel of mead he makes. Last year he chose a new honey supplier in Gilroy and not only saved money, but got an unexpected bonus.
“I ended up with a delicious berry flower honey with strong raspberry and blackberry flavors,” he said. “It’s a bit like winemaking. I can use a different varietal of honey with my original recipe and produce a new mead with subtle variations in its aroma and taste.”
Gene Brandi said backyard beekeeping is good for neighborhood communities because everyone’s gardens and flowering trees can benefit from natural cross-pollination.
“First, check with your county and city to find out what, if any, ordinances are in place with respect to beekeeping,” Brandi said, offering tips to those considering backyard beekeeping. “It’s important to have a fresh water source nearby. Get at least two hives. That way if you have some colony loss, you aren’t wiped out.”
Be a honey bee hero
1. Shop local. Farmer’s markets and neighborhood produce stands support smaller-scale farms that typically offer produce, plants and cut flowers in season. California growers are held to some of the nation’s strictest standards when it comes to farming practices. And you get just-picked fresh produce while supporting your local economy and the local honey bee population.
2. Go organic. Rising demand for organically-grown fruits, grains, nuts and vegetables helps drive down demand for more pesticides which is better for the environment and helps encourage more sustainable farming practices that are beneficial to bees.
3. Bee a student. There is a wealth of resources available online and through local beekeeping groups for those who want to learn more about beekeeping, or just want to practice bee-friendly backyard gardening practices.
4. Host a hive. Homestead and backyard beekeeping can create a safe haven for honeybees that will in turn reward suburban South Valley communities by cross-pollinating local plants, trees and grasses and creating honey.
