To Bee, or Not

Community Comments

CCD, which may be caused by mites, pesticides, changing weather patterns, loss of habitat, other unknowns or a combination of the above, is affecting far more than almonds. Thirty-five percent of the world’s food completely depends on pollination from bats, birds, bees and other insects, according to a study by UC Berkeley professor Claire Kremen, and 87 percent is in some way dependent on pollinators.

California farmers raising vine fruits such as melons, squash and zucchini also rely on bees for pollination. With crops far less lucrative than almonds, the bulk of these farmers can’t afford to pay more than $25 per acre to beekeepers. Many discerning beekeepers prefer to nurse their bees along for the almond season, rather than risk exposing them to pesticides and the stress of being trucked to farms. “They’re sprayed so much with pesticides that it’s not worth the rent we get paid,” says Olivarez. “We won’t even go there. Not if we want good bees for the almonds.”

Disease Eats Profits

It would be a mistake to imagine beekeepers suddenly awash in cash, watching farmers scramble for the services of their shrinking hives. Rather, a profession that barely provided a living in the first place now offers only a meager profit.

“Some of the beekeepers only stayed in business because their spouses had a job somewhere, and that job subsidized the bee business,” says Eric Mussen, a honeybee expert at UC Davis. “They couldn’t put new tires on their trucks. Their trucks were older than the hills. It was pretty touch-and-go for a lot of them.”

Dan Cummings, the owner of more than 7,000 acres of almond and walnut orchards, partnered with Olivarez five years ago. He calculates the expenses of pollinating the almond crop make up about 20 percent of his variable costs per pound of almonds. “I think most almond farmers get it. They understand what beekeepers are confronting,” he says.

While prices on colonies may have risen 300 percent over the last three years, so have costs. Beekeepers need to buy new medications to prevent diseases and treat infestations of mites that hadn’t reached California a few decades ago. Now, even when bees would normally have a plentiful natural supply of pollen and nectar to feed on, beekeepers have to start their bees on nutritional supplements such as brewer’s yeast and corn syrup.

“Our feed bills have doubled in the last three years,” says Olivarez. “I just bought the medication for nosema disease control, and that cost me $6,000,” adds Brandi, referring to Nosema apis, a disease afflicting honey bees.

In the meantime, Olivarez searches for alternatives. He’s bought land in Montana and set up honey production there, protected by a state law requiring a three-mile radius between beekeepers. In contrast, California beekeepers are often so close that sick or mite-infested bees frequently cross into each other’s colonies, infecting healthy bees. He also bought land on Hawaii’s big island, one of the only places neither mites nor CCD have yet been detected. “We’re doing everything we can to stay ahead of the game,” he says.

• Share
  • Digg This
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Furl It
  • !Y My Web
  • Google
• Email
• Print

Recommend This

Community Comments