Bee colony collapse disorder does not seem to have affected Alaska, at least not the Interior. In fact, I believe 2006 was a record year for bees and wasps and other sorts of stinging stripy things that pollinate. Our then-landlord discovered then, somewhat belatedly, that he was allergic to bee stings, and went to the hospital and took weeks to recover.
However, this Summer, the bees have been inactive due to the unusually cool weather and constant rain. Quite a few of us home gardeners would come home to find bees sitting on our flowers, baaaaaaarely aaaaaable to juuuuuuust mooooooove.
Yesterday at Alaska Feed, the friendly sales clerk informed me that there was no more honey for the year from the apiary in Delta Junction that supplies Alaska Feed with their local honey. Not yet having put the pieces together, I asked why. She explained to me, "It's the end of Summer! No more bees!" I retained my blank look. "But you guys had honey all through last Winter! I thought you, you know, stored honey through Winter. To sell to me." But the honey supply for the year has already run out. Local honey is still available at the Farmer's market, but the sellers there charge about 1.5 what Alaska Feed does. :(
1 comment:
You're reading my mind this week, as I was wondering about how bees cope in Alaska. It must be a very short season.
You won't have known it, but we're beekeepers - only two hives so far, but you have to start somewhere! It's been the worst year in the UK for a long time, and there is talk of us running short of local honey here too, even though we live in one of the most productive areas. Fortunately for us personally, we harvested just about enough from our bees to last us the year, though sadly no surplus to sell.
Post a Comment