Bill would try to restore the buzz in NC bees

Bee populations in the U.S. and Europe have been on a mysterious decline since the 1990s, posing a serious environmental and agricultural threat — but an N.C. General Assembly bill would try to combat the trend.

The so-called “Birds and Bees Act” would allow residents to own five or fewer beehives and require the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to study strategies for protecting crucial pollinators, such as birds and bees.

Bees pollinate 70 of the top 100 human food crops, which supply 90 percent of the world’s nutrition.

As some U.S. beekeepers began reporting losses of their bee colonies in 2006, many environmental groups and the legislature have been trying to combat a syndrome of worker bees suddenly abandoning their colonies for unknown reasons — called Colony Collapse Disorder.

Marty Hanks, owner of chemical-free Just Bee Apiary, said the disorder is just the tip of the iceberg.

“The media cleans up a complex package of problems faced by tiny little farmers into one small issue — CCD,” Hanks said. “CCD is a partial problem that goes along with numerous environmental destructions threatening bee populations by increasing use of chemicals.”

Hanks appreciated the first part of the N.C. bill allowing people to own five or fewer beehives, but he expressed concerns about the part requiring the state’s agriculture department to conduct studies to protect pollinators.

“There are a lot of politics being played around bees,” he said. “Tiny little farmers couldn’t get any help from the state, even though N.C.’s dominant income is from agriculture. Now the ones who are lobbying the politicians, like chemical companies, will distort the study to their own advantage — pollinator seeds or plants coded with chemicals.”

David Tarpy, an N.C. State University entomology professor, said this bill wouldn’t solve Colony Collapse Disorder right away.

He also said the disorder is a sensational phenomenon — but it is a minor reason why bee colonies are dying off. Other reasons can be urbanization, climate change, habitat loss and widespread use of pesticides, he said.

Still, Tarpy said it is always good to take the initiative of solving a seemingly unsolvable problem.

“It’s a good idea to clarify legal status of possessing five or less beehives,” he said. “But the second part requires a lot of work to be done.”

He mentioned one solution to benefit pollinators — planting wild flowers — but he doesn’t think that is specific enough.

“A suggestion like planting wildflowers is too vague,” Tarpy said. “There are 20,000 known species of bees, including honeybees. We don’t know which bees will be benefited by planting wildflowers.”

state@dailytarheel.com