What You Can Do To Help Indiana’s Bee Population Recover

STATEWIDE — Bee population numbers are still at a troubling low.

Kathleen Prough, a bee expert with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, says a big reason for the drastically low number of bees in Indiana was due to the unexpectedly cold March and April months this year. On top of that, an increase threat of disease among honeybees is playing a role.

“This cold March and April really held them back a little bit,” Prough said. “But we are also treating for Varroa Mites, which is the main pest that we have, because the Varroa Mites feed on the larva, pupas, and adult stage of bees.”

She says Indiana bee keepers have had to work double time to make sure their bees stayed healthy through the harsh winter months. But to illustrate the decline in bee numbers she gave an example of one bee keeper from northern Indiana.

“We had one bee keeper that had over 100 hives and he only had four make it through the winter,” Prough explained. 

For those of you who aren’t bee keepers, Prough recommends that you plant native flowers and plants in you backyard.

“You need native plants for your native bees,” Prough continued. “One of my favorites is Joe Pye Weed, which is a native. It grows to about 5-feet tall and the bees and butterflies just love them.”

Prough also recommends you leave out sugar water for bees in the fall. She says they take the sugar water back to their hive and they use it to make honey during the winter months. This in turn gives them a better food supply during that time. 

In spite of the grimness of bee population numbers, new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture released last Tuesday shows cause for optimism. As of April, an estimated 2.89 million bee colonies existed across the U.S., an increase of 3 percent compared to April 2016. 

(PHOTO: Picture Alliance/Getty Images)