For Release April 25, 2000

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

The "domestic honeybee" is not native to North America. It came over from Europe very early on with some of the earliest European settlers. Naturally, it was desired for the honey it produced and the beeswax was very important to many aspects of early settler life. There were many native bee and wasp species as well. Some of these were colonial bees that produced honey and wax also, but many of the species were what are known as solitary nesters or solitary bees.

Bees of all species have also long been known to be a great boon to flowering plants and the seed or fruit that they produce. Because of the ease with which the honeybee could be moved and maintained, they were constantly being moved west with the settlers. While many plants can be pollinated by wind or other insects, we know that we can have a big increase in production with the presence of honeybees.

These colonies would regularly swarm and wild honeybee colonies would become established. Because of the great number of bees in a honeybee hive, they would often out compete the native bees for food sources and often take over cavities that native bees might have inhabited. Because of this competition, the native bee numbers are much lower than they used to be.

For several hundred years now, we have become very used to finding honeybees around our flowers, our fruit trees and our vegetable gardens. But for several years, many gardeners have noticed a big reduction in the number of honeybees or the complete absence of honeybees. Something is definitely wrong in bee land!

Beekeepers and bee researchers have long known of the presence of parasitic mites that live on honeybees and can kill or greatly impair honeybees. In 1984, the tracheal mite was found in the United States and in 1987 the Varroa mite was found in honeybee hives. It didn’t take too many years until both of these pests were found in Kansas.

Both pests can be treated in hives. It is a cumbersome treatment and in some cases it has to be done when honey is not being actively collected or the control compound would be present in the honey. If left untreated, either mite can weaken a colony significantly or just plain kill the hive. So, while beekeepers actively manage these pests in their hives, the mites have effectively eliminated many, if not most, of the wild honeybee colonies.

Beekeeping is big business. There was $125 million worth of honey produced in 1999, not to mention the beeswax sales and the increase in production from many different crops. There is a lot of research being done on new and improved ways to deal with these two pests. But in the meantime, what can you do to improve pollination of your garden and orchard crops?

About the only thing that you can do, other than to take up beekeeping yourself, is to try to provide nesting areas and suitable habitat for some of the native bees. Most of these are small, gentle bees, and having them around the home and garden is not a threat to the residents. These species include leaf cutter bees and orchard mason bees. Both of these are solitary species that nest in small existing holes in wood. You can encourage their presence by taking untreated wood, 4 x 4’s or 4 x 6’s work well, and drill 5/16 inch holes as deep as possible, without going all the way through. Place these in areas that will be undisturbed and receive at least morning sunshine. If you want more information on solitary bees or how to become a beekeeper please give me a call at the Extension Office, 238-4161!

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