Omaha Bee Club goes to work replenishing local colonies (check out the LOL Bee Day photo)

[Omaha Steve]

SARAH HOFFMAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
A bee lands on Omaha Bee Club member Gary Kula’s nose. The club received shipments of bees to distribute to beekeepers on Friday and Saturday.


http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/omaha-bee-club-goes-to-work-replenishing-local-colonies/article_400d31f4-5ca1-52e3-a14b-cb7d5578c942.html

POSTED: MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015 12:30 AM
By Kevin Cole / World-Herald staff writer

A quiet residential street in South Omaha was literally buzzing Friday and Saturday as local beekeepers swarmed in to claim important new stock arriving from California.

The Omaha Bee Club and its approximately 200 members are as busy as, well, er, bees every spring as they replenish their colonies. The club imported nearly 3 million honey bees to balance an annual death rate that has become of increasing concern over the past 10 years.

“We’re losing them at a very high rate,” said club President Tony Sandoval. “We’re looking at 70 percent die-outs for this winter in Nebraska and 69 percent in Iowa.”

The big problem is the extreme weather of Nebraska and Iowa, Sandoval said, but Varroa mites and pesticides also are weakening bee colonies. Until about 2006, local beekeepers lost only 15 to 20 percent of their swarms during the winter, he said.

FULL story at link. Also see: How bees in Nebraska, Iowa play crucial role in local food economy: http://www.omaha.com/living/how-bees-in-nebraska-iowa-play-crucial-role-in-local/article_5a8a9794-6abb-5640-98e9-fe6a415c1b89.html

[Siwsan]

1. I had a Bee-utiful visitor to my tulip garden, the other day

[L0oniX]

2. Kinda silly but my wife and I are always rescuing honey bees from our pool.