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Thursday, April 29, 2010
Bees and Beekeepers Struggle Beekeepers continue to struggle to provide enough hives of bees
to meet the need for pollination. In a recent study 19 beekeepers indicated they were managing 12,477 colonies (pre‐winter losses) for which they reported 21,745 rentals (1.7 rentals/col). These rentals generated approximately$1,413,674
gross pollination income. Winter losses
were significant, averaging 31.7% with a range of 6 to 70%. These numbers are slightly higher than the national average of
winter losses for 2008‐2009 (29%) (VanEngelsdorp, et al 2010). Hopefully, spring
splitting will enable beekeepers to recover colony numbers.
Here at Terrible Creek, we are hard
at work rescuing colonies from commercial and residential structures, as well as scouting retail providers for strong,
healthy bee colonies at manageable prices. As the number of viable colonies goes down, the price per colony
goes up. If we can create our own by splitting or rescue, we can hold down costs for our clients.
Our colony,
rescued from North Raleigh last fall, failed to survive the winter - not unexpected since they would have had little time
and forage to put away nectar and pollen. In spite of feeding with sugar water and pollen cakes, we lost a pretty little
colony from the garden. On the other hand, our hives are hard at work on a neighbor's Red Clover (planted last fall)
so we expect some delicious honey in the next few weeks.
Watch for an upcoming extraction event, June 6.
4:50 pm edt
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Terrible Creek Beekeepers, llc specializes
in delivering hives of bees to distant agricultural and horticultural sites. Our beekeeping services are tailored to
your site, your wants, your opportunities, and your tasks. Our goal is to get
you implementing, not just planning. The bee hive will become a key element in your landscape plan and will deliver the pollination
and crop production goals you seek. Our work is grounded in real hive management practice and protocol to
produce tangible outcomes. We use the context of your site to develop the strategies and behaviors necessary for success
in the face of environmental and climate challenges.
Value added products from YOUR hive as well as from the hives
of
Terrible Creek Beekeepers, llc are available on request
Find out more About Us, then look at our Services to make your possibilities a reality.
Ask the Expert!
For free email advice, send
your questions, comments or ideas to thebuzz@TCBeekeepers.com.
For issues that are of particular interest to the the community, we may publish (with your permission)
your questions along with our answers on this web site.
