Keepers: Dying bees may sting state's crops
SEATTLE -- Bee keepers are facing a major disaster. A mysterious disease is killing off bees in droves.
The news is alarming to the state, as some of Washington's most valuable crops depend on bees for pollination.
On Dean Barnett's Redmond farm, the honey bees are falling silent.
"Each time I come around the check the hives, I'm not sure what I'm going to find," he said.
Barnett's hives have dropped from 590 to 109. That's an 80-percent loss in less than a year.
Beekeepers like to see several hundred healthy bees on one frame. The problem is they could mysteriously disappear in just a week.
"It's just so frustrating to be losing bees and you don't know why," said Barnett.
And what's devastating for the bees is devastating for agriculture.
"Onion seed, cabbage seed and all the berries and all the fruit -- it all requires pollination. And we're just having bees dying like crazy," Barnett said.
There's emergency research underway at Washington State University, but it's not fully funded.
Barnett has been medicating his bees, hoping for the best. If the bees don't respond, they won't be ready to pollinate raspberries and cranberries.
"I have to have them ready by the first of May," he said.
And he's already fallen short.
"Oh yeah, I need about double this number of hives," he said. "You can't keep 'em alive."
Bee keepers call the sudden deaths a major disaster. And as the mysterious disease spreads through the bees, the problem could spread to the rest of the state by putting certain foods in short supply.
Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, introduced a bill in the last legislative session asking for $500,000 to pay for research at WSU. The bill was not passed.
The state Department of Agriculture is in the process of asking the governor to step up with emergency funding.
The news is alarming to the state, as some of Washington's most valuable crops depend on bees for pollination.
On Dean Barnett's Redmond farm, the honey bees are falling silent.
"Each time I come around the check the hives, I'm not sure what I'm going to find," he said.
Barnett's hives have dropped from 590 to 109. That's an 80-percent loss in less than a year.
Beekeepers like to see several hundred healthy bees on one frame. The problem is they could mysteriously disappear in just a week.
"It's just so frustrating to be losing bees and you don't know why," said Barnett.
And what's devastating for the bees is devastating for agriculture.
"Onion seed, cabbage seed and all the berries and all the fruit -- it all requires pollination. And we're just having bees dying like crazy," Barnett said.
There's emergency research underway at Washington State University, but it's not fully funded.
Barnett has been medicating his bees, hoping for the best. If the bees don't respond, they won't be ready to pollinate raspberries and cranberries.
"I have to have them ready by the first of May," he said.
And he's already fallen short.
"Oh yeah, I need about double this number of hives," he said. "You can't keep 'em alive."
Bee keepers call the sudden deaths a major disaster. And as the mysterious disease spreads through the bees, the problem could spread to the rest of the state by putting certain foods in short supply.
Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, introduced a bill in the last legislative session asking for $500,000 to pay for research at WSU. The bill was not passed.
The state Department of Agriculture is in the process of asking the governor to step up with emergency funding.