PORT ANGELES — North Olympic Peninsula beekeepers are not sure what is causing colony collapse disorder.
They just know that populations have declined in the past couple years.
Katherine Baril, director of the Washington State University extension in Jefferson County, said the North Olympic Peninsula is not immune to the phenomenon.
“About two years ago we started monitoring this,” Baril said.
Bees are important, Baril said, because they’re responsible for about 98 percent of the pollination.
“A lot of crops completely depend on it,” said Ed Giersch, a hobbyist beekeeper in Sequim and a member of the North Olympic Peninsula Beekeepers Association.
Giersch believes that a virus carried by Asian bees is infecting the European bees on the Peninsula.
“We had to buy new bees this year,” Giersch said.
“We have lost a great number.”
Giersch said this year’s bees “seem to be doing all right,” but he won’t know for sure until he collects honey around Labor Day weekend.
Coleman Byrnes of Joyce, a hobbyist beekeeper and a member of the North Olympic Peninsula Beekeepers Association, said he’s noticed a decline in the bee population.
“I’m noticing the drought this summer is affecting their ability to get honey,” Byrnes said.
“The drought is having a negative effect on my bees here in Joyce.”
Apples, apricots, plums, almonds, squash and other crops depend on the honeybee, Byrnes said.
Every third bite that you eat comes from a pollinated plant or an animal that eats a pollinated plant, like beef, Byrnes said.
“There’s just a huge list of things that need insects for pollination,” Byrnes said.
Humans can help restore the bee population by planting native plants, and by reducing the amount of pesticides put in lawns, Baril said.
“If we just kept natural systems intact, we wouldn’t have to do something artificial,” Baril said.
The WSU extension in Jefferson County has held workshops on growing wild plant hedges.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
