FAIRBORN — Local beekeepers in Fairborn are working to combat the decline in honey bee populations, which is crucial for maintaining food production.
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According to the Ohio State University’s bee experts, beekeepers are experiencing colony losses ranging from 30 to 50 percent due to mites and other invasive species.
“If you didn’t have bees, honey bees, or other pollinators as well, we would starve. I mean, that’s not an exaggeration,” said Marianne Bishop, Secretary of the Greene County Beekeepers Association.
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Jim Myers, a beekeeper in Fairborn, told News Center 7 that his bees are doing their part.
“From these hives here, the worker bee will fly like about as far as a mile. And actually, behind these trees here, is a soybean farmer’s field. And they will pollinate soybeans,” Myers said.
Myers has been beekeeping since 2011, and he’s seen honey prices increase in grocery stores.
“I have seen the price for honey that ranges the gamut,” he said.
Those prices have led Myers to supply raw honey for his friends and neighbors to save them a couple of dollars.
As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Myers does not foresee a dip in prices.
“It keeps going up just like everything else does,” he said.
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