Stockbridge Beekeeper Gives Advice
By Shari McLaughlin

Garbed in protective gear, Mark Begin checks the progress of his beehives in Stockbridge. (Herald / Tim Calabro)

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a little-understood syndrome in which all the bees abruptly disappear from a hive. This is cause for concern since a third of the world’s food supply depends on bee pollination. It’s been said that if bees completely disappeared, man would have no more than 4 years to live. So in a time when more of us are relying on our own gardens, think twice before swatting that bee.

Since 1971 wild honeybees have almost completely disappeared and colonies maintained by beekeepers have significantly declined, with the rate of attrition in 2007 reaching new proportions. Some decline can be traced to urbanization, pesticides, mites and beekeepers retiring or going out of business. Some colony abandonment is natural. But when a colony with capped brood and food stores is abandoned by the adults (which they won’t normally do until all capped brood are hatched) with no direct cause and little or no dead bees around the colony, it is considered a victim of CCD. No one is sure why but theories include environmental stresses, radiation from cell phones and other man made devices, genetically modified crops and commercial beekeeping practices such as long distance transportation of beehives.

That’s why having a local beekeeper like Mark Begin of Stockbridge is a competitive environmental advantage. Begin began beekeeping in 2002 and has five hives that produce 20-60 lbs. of honey per hive annually. Fortunately for Begin’s Stockbridge neighbors, his mighty little air force can pollinate an area of almost 80 miles in the process.

"They’ll forage in a radius of up to five miles," he explained.

If you want to help your local bees and beekeeper, avoid pesticides and genetically modified crops. Grow fruit trees and berry bushes with different bloom times and don’t mow the goldenrod in the fall.

"Bees rely on it to make food for winter because there is little else available in the fall," said Begin, who is planning to plant a field of buckwheat, too.

Bees also go with what they know, so choose native plants and avoid foreign species. Heirloom varieties are especially pleasing to bees. They love lavender and sunflowers, too, with their abundant nectar and pollen in the flower’s wide, shallow head. Be color conscious and choose bright white, yellow, blue and violet flowers and plant in clumps to make it easier for bees to locate.

Bees have impressive communication abilities, especially with respect to forage sites and do a unique "bee dance" to communicate to co-workers the type of flowers, direction and distance from the hive. Keep bees in mind when landscaping and gardening and you’ll be rewarded with the knowledge that not only have you helped local agriculture but somewhere a bee is doing a dance all about your garden. Expect visitors.

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