Davey Hackenberg has been working with bees since he was about 5 years old, and grew up spending some of the school year in Florida to keep bees while still going to school.  After high school he went to school to become a diesel mechanic, but soon found his way back to beekeeping. With his family in PA, he still travels quite a lot to Florida to make sure all the bees are taken care of. Beekeeping has meant spending periods of time away from his family during the year, but this is one sacrifice that is necessary to keep bees in multiple states. He admits the job is not the most glamourous job- working in all weather conditions and stress take a toll especially when bee losses are usually completely out of the hand of the beekeeper. He said keeping bees is kind of like babysitting. You have to make sure they are fed, get proper nutrition, watch for mites (they carry viruses), keep their hives maintained and tuck all 50,000 of them in bed every night (just kidding, bees never sleep!). There are so many things to consider!
Unfortunately, the Hackenbergs have lost about 85% of their bees this winter. This is a pretty staggering number. What's to blame? Colony Colapse Disorder, or CCD, causes bees to leave the hive and not be able to find their way back. The bee's lifespan is growing shorter and younger bees are being forced to leave the hive earlier because they need food to survive. This has been a growing trend for at least the last decade all around the world. This is very concerning because bees are responsible for pollinating 80% of the food we eat. Dutch Gold and others have been contributing to bee research, but there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done to scientifically figure out what exactly is going on. There is a large consensus around the world including Davey that attribute the cause of CCD to pesticide and insecticide use. The memory of bees has been shown to be effected but just the tiniest amounts of pesticide. This causes bees to not remember how to get home. Hypothetically, this could be similar to 85% of the human population suddenly developing Alzheimer's.
Most people that see bees just try to kill them because they can seem to be a nuisance during your summer picnic. But bees are an important part of the food chain for other animals. Areas where bees have declined have also seen a decline of other animals and birds that depend of them for survival. So please, next time you see a bee, just let it bee.