News Summary

One out of every three bites you take is courtesy of a bee.

That is why experts are concerned about an unexpected die-out of a large portion of the bee population this winter.

According to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, beekeepers in 24 states — including Ohio — have reported cases of "colony collapse disorder," with some apiaries losing up to 30 percent of their hives.

Bees are essential in the pollination of a number of Ohio's crops, including soybeans, apples and pumpkins.

In 2006, there were 3,224 registered beekeepers in Ohio managing 32,803 bee colonies.

Local hobby beekeeper Robert Goodfellow heard about the die-out about six weeks ago from a fellow beekeeper. Goodfellow's six hives are in charge of pollinating Young's Jersey Dairy's 10-acre pumpkin crop.

On Sunday, Goodfellow took his first spring walk out to his hives to inspect activity.

"Well, I have bees," he said cautiously as he watched a few dozen fly in and out of the hives. It will be another week or two before he does a full inspection to see how many of his 20,000 to 60,000 bees remain.

"My biggest concern is that they didn't get frozen out," he said.

Some experts believe a mild December brought the bees out of hibernation, causing them to spread out and exhaust their food supply before February's temperatures plummeted.

That is just one theory.

"We haven't gotten into inspections (yet) because of the weather," said Champaign County inspector Bob Kiser. "But what we're hearing is that it is mostly affecting migratory beekeepers."

Tim Gifford, Clark County apiary inspector, agreed, saying that some believe that contracting bees out to orchards across the country causes stress in the bees. Experts are also looking for possible signs of disease.

Goodfellow does not know what he will do if much of his hive collapsed. Replacing a hive is expensive and Goodfellow started his hive eight years ago to bring in a little extra post-retirement income.

"Replacement cost of equipment is around $500 (for one hive with bees and the queen,)" he said. "The commercial beekeepers — the ones that have 1,000 hives plus — they are the ones that are really hurting."