Bees important for crop production, food in area

With three-fourths of the world's flowering plants depending on pollinators to reproduce, the importance of pollinators, such as honey bees, is evident.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, most fruit, vegetable, and seed crops are pollinated by animals. It is estimated that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths, birds and bats, and beetles and other insects.

Aside from pollinating plants that produce food, honey bees use pollen for protein in their diet, and nectar for energy and carbohydrates. The bees use these resources to create honey.

Local beekeeper Charlie Anderson started keeping bees in 1978, though he hasn't kept hives constantly.

Anderson said honey bees have been losing a large amount of habitat. 

"Honey bees need alfalfa to flower for nectar, but there's not as much hay ground as there used to be, and hay gets cut early for the best protein content," he said.

Along with the loss of habitat, honey bees are also being affected by mites in their hives.

"The mites are a parasite, and can kill off hives," Anderson said. "I didn't have enough time for the bees a couple of years ago and had poor luck."

Anderson said he believes mites are also a contributing factor to colony collapse.

When starting a hive, Anderson said a person orders bees that typically come from California, Georgia, or Texas. 

"They come in a two or three pound screen package," he said. "In 1978 they cost around $10, but now they're around $90."

Two pounds of bees is approximately 6,000 to 8,000 bees.

"There can be 80,000 bees in a box by late August," he said.

Anderson said when a beginner gets started with beekeeping, they can easily spend $500. The bees are brought in by truck in the beginning of April. 

"You have to feed them sugar water, and some years, dandelions are out early to provide food for the bees," he said.

The bees collect pollen from trees, as well. Once the hive gets started, the bees start laying eggs, and Anderson said it's important to keep an eye on them. 

"Typically in the first year you don't expect honey out of the hives," he said. 

In just two boxes, Anderson said the bees will keep 80 to 90 pounds of honey and pollen stored for the winter. 

"Honey bees are cold blooded, so they cluster in the box and basically shiver their flight muscles to stay warm," he said. "They take turns doing this, and work to keep the queen at about 90 degrees. Last winter that was hard for them."

Anderson said of his 17 hives, only five made it through the winter.

Once the bees are placed in the hive, Anderson said he checks them every three to five days. Baby bees develop in 21 days.

"The baby bees emerge after about a month, and the population starts to increase," he said. "Once the box is full, I just add another on."

Bees are a social insect, and all have jobs. Anderson said the bees that gather nectar and pollen will travel up to two miles to find food.

If the bees make it through the winter, Anderson said one can hope to have honey in the second year of a hive. If weather cooperates, honey can be extracted as early as June. 

"We typically do extraction around Labor Day," he said. 

Anderson said he has to remove the bees from the box before working with the honey.

"Some people mash the comb, others put it in cheesecloth and let the honey drip out," he said. "If you have the right set-up, you can do cut-comb honey. When I started, we had a hand-crank extractor, but now it's run by a motor."

Anderson said the honey is extracted from the comb using centripetal force.

"The honey is easier to work with when it's warm," he said. "We typically do the work in our home."

Anderson said May through June, he checks the hives about every 10 days to make sure the bees don't swarm and leave the hive.

"They can build a queen bee in 15 days," he said. "You don't want to bother them too often, though. The swarming instinct is gone by this time of year."

When bees swarm, they fill up with honey and leave the hive to start a new hive.

"You lose bees and honey when that happens," he said. 

Anderson taught biology for years, and said the science of beekeeping was part of the reason he got started with it, as well as just wanting something to do.

"I thought it was interesting," he said. "It's just a hobby of mine. I also really like honey and the health benefits of it."

Anderson is a member of the Dunn County Beekeepers Association, and serves as a mentor for some people in the area. He helps teach classes in Menomonie, which he said tend to get around 50 participants. He also sometimes talks with school groups. They put on an all-day beginning beekeeping class the last Saturday in January.

"There's lots of info out there," he said.

The bees primarily feed on clover.

"Purple flowers are attractive to them due to the way their eyes work," he said.

Anderson has bees in four locations on his farm, and keeps an electric fence around the boxes to deter bears.When a box is full, Anderson said it can weigh 80-90 pounds. 

More information about beekeeping and the Dunn County Beekeepers can be found on Facebook.