2.4 Honeybee Initiative
Donation protected
As many of you know, this is our 4th winter as beekeepers and the 2nd winter in a row we’ve suffered 100% hive loss. Last winter, 65% of Michigan beekeepers lost hives, so this is a problem that needs to be solved. The reasons a hive dies in the winter can include starvation, disease, weak or dead queen, or freezing to death. In 2013-2014, bees suffered from just too many sub-zero days in a row without the ability to get out for cleansing flights. This winter began on the mild side, but unseasonably cold temps in February and into March disrupted hives during prime brood-laying time.
50% of the honey bees in this country are owned by commercial keepers who truck them around to pollinate almonds, citrus, etc. As these colonies struggle, the price of bee packages goes up. In just the last 3 years prices have risen from $85 in 2013 to over $100 this year. It is simply not sustainable to buy bees every spring. Not to mention, it does nothing to helping bees to adapt, survive, and sustain their colonies. Additionally, bees are an integral component to the food chain and necessary for the pollination of ⅓ of the food we eat.
Michigan State University’s entomology department has created a Pollinator Initiative which we recently signed up to participate in. We were trained in a new method of hive management and are excited to try it out and see if we get better results.
Spring bees and new equipment are expensive, though, and that’s where you come in. Over the years we’ve been lucky to have friends and family who have followed this adventure on facebook. We have friends and family who call to ask which insecticides are safe (none) and whether or not it’s ok to kill a wasp nest under their deck (it is). We have friends and family who ask about our bees, sign petitions to benefit bees, and buy local honey. So now we’re asking you to make a small donation to help us take another step towards sustainable beekeeping.
We’re hoping to use this money to purchase a microscope, materials to build a bee-house/shed for winter “storage” for hives, materials to build additional nuc boxes, and also a couple bee packages and well-bred queens.
Every little bit helps to save the bees! :)
50% of the honey bees in this country are owned by commercial keepers who truck them around to pollinate almonds, citrus, etc. As these colonies struggle, the price of bee packages goes up. In just the last 3 years prices have risen from $85 in 2013 to over $100 this year. It is simply not sustainable to buy bees every spring. Not to mention, it does nothing to helping bees to adapt, survive, and sustain their colonies. Additionally, bees are an integral component to the food chain and necessary for the pollination of ⅓ of the food we eat.
Michigan State University’s entomology department has created a Pollinator Initiative which we recently signed up to participate in. We were trained in a new method of hive management and are excited to try it out and see if we get better results.
Spring bees and new equipment are expensive, though, and that’s where you come in. Over the years we’ve been lucky to have friends and family who have followed this adventure on facebook. We have friends and family who call to ask which insecticides are safe (none) and whether or not it’s ok to kill a wasp nest under their deck (it is). We have friends and family who ask about our bees, sign petitions to benefit bees, and buy local honey. So now we’re asking you to make a small donation to help us take another step towards sustainable beekeeping.
We’re hoping to use this money to purchase a microscope, materials to build a bee-house/shed for winter “storage” for hives, materials to build additional nuc boxes, and also a couple bee packages and well-bred queens.
Every little bit helps to save the bees! :)
Organizer
Andrea Villarreal
Organizer
Kalamazoo, MI
