March 17, 2017

Michigan Beekeepers

It’s been a hardcore winter for honeybees. Bees already deal with a number of hurdles, including parasitic mites, habitat reduction, and pesticides.

In the face of every one of these things, beekeepers in Michigan are making an effort to reproduce a hardier bee.

And you thought it was a hard winter season... decide to try being a bee

North Michigan beekeeper Greg Griswold walks off to their bee yard. Twenty of their bee boxes tend to be blanketed in snowfall.

“See the icicles? That indicates there is real time bees in there melting the snow. They produce heat all winter long, ” he states.

Griswold runs Champion Hill Farm in Benzie County. He offers honey in your area, and keeps 200 bee colonies on-site year-round. That means their bees are in cardboard boxes for a number of months at a time during cold temperatures.

Commercial migratory beekeepers, however, often move their particular bees south.

Griswold states it's difficult for his bees for through the winter.

“The subzero weather is only a little concerning especially in the thirty days of March, late within the period like this. However the plus part of this winter months is the fact that my hives tend to be deep in the snow. The snowfall in fact insulates the hives through the colder temperatures, ” he explains.

In past times decade, beekeepers have actually usually lost 30% of the bees each winter. This season, those losses turn to be a lot higher.

Griswold really wants to make a more powerful bee. He could be breeding survivor bees: bees which have currently proven they may be able withstand Michigan winters.

“My objective is to simply take a hive that survived two winters then raise queens from that stock. And then as I continue doing that, the genetics regarding the bees will will be more winter-hardy, ” he claims.

Locally-raised bees

He could be not the only one in-breeding survivor bees.

She says they’re attempting to develop a northern-bred bee that’s adjusted to Michigan. So beekeepers can buy locally adapted bees.

That’s maybe not how it currently works.

"today, the conventional is the fact that men and women purchase bees in springtime in addition they get a package from California or Georgia & most most likely those bees pass away within the cold weather."