News

Bee colonies break record in the state

By Scott Wagar

09/02/2014

With a new plan set in North Dakota, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture (NDDA) has a greater understanding of bee hive locations which has set a new record this summer for the number of bee colonies in the state.

According to Doug Goehring, agriculture commissioner of North Dakota Department of Agriculture, registered bee colonies have set a record in the state.

“Not only are the number of colonies and beekeepers up, so is compliance,” said Goehring in a press release. “In the meantime, we are getting fewer landowner complaints about bee colonies.”

State documents confirm that in 2014 there were 221 beekeepers that registered 510,000 colonies. Last year, North Dakota had 205 beekeeper registered with 482,500 colonies. This equals out to over 12,200 bee hive that have registered locations this year, which is an increase of 1,200 hive locations from 2013 that saw 11,000 hive locations.

Samantha Brunner, plant production specialist and state apiary inspector for the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, stated Bottineau County has seen an increase in hive location from last year to this year.

“In 2013, Bottineau County had 450 registered locations,” Brunner said. “In 2014, it is up to 502.”

Goehring stated that the increase is attributed to the NDDA’s apiary staff focus on improved conformity with registration directives.

“The staff has made numerous phone calls to beekeepers reminding them to register locations and to appropriately identify their hives,” Goehring said. “They also conducted education and outreach efforts to help beekeepers better understand the regulations. This has led to a spike in compliance.”

Although Goehring gives credit to the NDDA’s apiary staff, he has made great strides in the bee industry in the state. Last year, he held two meetings which consisted of the state’s beekeepers and landowners to resolve differences the two groups had with each other, along with getting the two entities to work together that provided quality benefits for each other through a program called the North Dakota Pollination Plan, which is the only known plan throughout the United States.

“The pollinator plan was developed in response to a growing need for a balanced public policy that mitigates risk to honey bees, while minimizing the impact of that mitigation on production agriculture to prevent unintended consequences,” Goehring said. “I believe that through enhanced communications and by working together we can achieve these goals.”

As far as crop production in honey, the NDDA added the state has produced more honey in the past 10 years than any other state in the country.

In 2013, bee companies harvested 33 million pounds of honey, which equaled out to 22 percent of the nation’s total in the crop.

Like ag producers in the nation who are currently besieged by disease, Goehring stated beekeepers across the country still continue with disease and a decline in the bees’ population. Hopefully, with better location documents, and good production number, bee production in the state will continue to have a taste that is honey sweet.