Rain Keeps Bees From Pollinating Crops
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Rain Keeps Bees From Pollinating Crops
"When it rains, they basically sit in the hive and mope around," says beekeeper John Pluta of Milledgeville.
Bees don't fly in wet weather which about all that we've seen this summer. It's so bad, Pluta "basically forgot what a normal honey year is anymore."
A bee hive collects about 100-pounds of honey a year. Pluta has only averaged about a third of that.
Because there's been so much rain, the bees are starving so Pluta started feeding them sugar water.
"We're basically buying 3,000-pounds of sugar a month right now," he says.
When bees aren't collecting nectar, bees eat some of of their stored food. The little honey Pluta collects, he sells at a higher price.
"And when they did get a chance to fly, a lot of the flowers, a lot of the pollen and nectar have been washed out of the flower already," he says.
That's slowing down the pollination of crops around Georgia. Despite the range of problems, Pluta's main concern is keeping his 600-thousand bees alive.
One hive box contains anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 bees.
REPORTER JUDY LE
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Judy Le Filming WMAZ Channel 13 TV Reporter Macon Georgia Television Station
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