ELM MOTT, Texas (KXXV) — Local beekeepers are keeping an eye on the massive colony losses in the state — they're not too concerned of colony loss in the area, but it is on their radar as the loss of bee affects local vegetation.
- According to the Texas Tribune, commercial beekeepers in Texas have lost about 2/3 of their honey bees since June last year
- The state of Texas became a hotbed for beekeepers over the last decade more than quadrupling from 1,851- 8,939 in a 10-year span
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Randy Oakley is a beekeeper and owner of Oakley Family Apiaries in Elm Mott.
“It varies by season what we're doing right now — we just have a couple of hives," Oakley said.
"Within probably 1 mile of here we probably have about 30 or 40 hives in several locations."
The State of Texas became a hotbed for beekeepers over the last decade, more than quadrupling from a little more than 1,800 to close to 9,000.
“One thing that we are thankful for is the bees, our wild populations have bounced back nicely with the challenges, and we're trying to learn from that,” Oakley said.
According to the Texas Tribune, commercial beekeepers in Texas have lost about 2/3 of their honey bees since June of last year.
Erik Robertson co-owns Raw Bee’s Honey, and has concerns of what this could mean for the state and for business.
"If you don't have enough bees and it doesn't get pollinated fully and you get a, a much smaller crop,” Robertson said.
“About 2/3 of what comes across your table is a vegetable or a fruit was pollinated by bees — without bees it's not going to get pollinated. We're not going to have those crops that's going to hurt us financially as well as a food source."
“That's concerning for our industry as a whole, and so we want to do everything we can to try to get to the bottom of what it is causing it and, and change our practice."
What needs to happen to fix this issue?
“The biggest thing we can do to help bees would be habitat, making sure we're planting wild flowers, stuff like that," Robertson said.
"A lot of people do a lot of spraying on their linen to kill all the dandelions — that's the first source of nectar and pollen for the bees. The other thing is we're losing a lot of habitat to things like solar farms,” Robertson said.
“We want to do everything we can to try to get to the bottom of what it is causing it and, and change our practice,” Oakley concluded.
