NAPA making stand for bees
May 12, 2025
April showers bring May flowers as the saying goes and with the flowers come those yellow flighty critters with stingers…or so we hope. Honeybees have seen a steady decline in population since 2006 and Kansas has seen the highest average colony loss rate between 2015 and 2022.
A number of issues are the cause of the decline according to Washington State University's Honey Bees and Pollinators Program. Lack of floral diversity, fluctuating temperatures, winter loss and drought are just a few of the causes for the loss of one-fifth of state honeybee colonies each season. A main problem in the Midwest and Kansas specifically is that of parasites and exposure to pesticides. The Varroa mite, which specifically targets honey bees and debilitates them during the winter. A mite infestation can destroy a colony as quickly as two years.
In addition, pesticides are commonly used in the Midwest, in both residential and agriculture. Research has shown that 90 percent of pollen samples from beehives in agricultural landscapes are contaminated with more than one pesticide.
Now for some folks, the lack of these creatures seems like a bit of a positive. No worries about hives on the back porch or kids with stingers. However, in the United States alone, honeybees pollinate $15 billion in agricultural products each year including more than 130 types of fruits, nuts and vegetables.
“It has been challenging for us as bee managers, because during the time when we need bees here in the Midwest, North and South Dakota hold the majority of the commercial hives,” Jorge Garibay said. Garibay is the founder of North American Pollinator Alliance. “So infiltrating into this has been challenging and fun but I think we're to the point where we need to just get down to business.”
Commercial beekeepers are reporting losses this year ranging between 60 and 100 percent according to Washington State University's Honey Bees and Pollinators Program. This isn’t exactly a new thing. Previous years have seen losses between 40 and 50 percent.
Garibay works with landowners in the Midwest in an effort to combat the challenges the bees are facing. Though his take on the struggles is a broader perspective.
“Bees are not dying off in this country, nor in the rest of the world, but they are running out of habitat,” he explained. “With close to 3 million hives commercially managed to help feed Americans and pollinate feed crops for livestock, Kansas is one of the states with the fewest number of beehive colonies, but we are changing that.”
NAPA consults with landowners on proper habitats for honey bees. His expertise helps people in not only setting up bee yards and maintaining them. He helps with creating honey bee habitats, raising winter hearty bees, manages hives on farms for pollination and honey production, and selling treatment-free honey. He is very hands-on. Garibay goes to the hives and ensures they are thriving.
“What's great about everywhere that I go is people get to see their land in a whole new way,” he said. “They become so intimately entwined with aspects of their land they hadn’t before. All the places that I have gone to are just incredible.”
It isn’t all good news though in his line of work. Sometimes, he has to be the bearer of bad news and tell people that their land just isn't’ suitable.
“I try not to tell people no,” he said. “I go out and look at their land, but to be honest nine out of 10 places are not suitable. The people are amazing, even the ones who are not ready for bees. There are just things people need to have in order for it to work.”
Honeybees are not native to the U.S., but they now play a key role as pollinators. It has been a learning experience with these vital insects. Garibay and his family originally tried to start operations in Nebraska, but found that they couldn’t find the bee stock in properties so they moved down to Kansas.
“We're probably the last stand of what I call them Native American bees, but they're the European honey bees that have been here for 400 years,” Garibay explained. "Brought to the east coast of North America in 1622 it would be 231 years before the honeybee reached the west coast.”
Like anything, bee procedures have adapted over time or in some cases they have become stagnant and perhaps need revamped.
“You have to be so flexible in agriculture, there is so much education, so much information,” Garibay said. “There is a plethora of information, maybe too much, maybe we are having conflicting information.”
Over time, Garibay has found himself as a teacher in horticulture, agronomy, entomology and more. NAPA Bees continues its mission of showing how important honey bees are in natural environments. With this in mind, perhaps the decline of these bumbling bugs in the Midwest can be halted.
For more information on NAPA Bees, contact americanpollinatoralliance@gmail.com of visit @NapaBeesFarm on Facebook.
“I want to help people understand a natural system or maybe just observe and resist getting in the way of a natural system,” he said. “Education is great, but experience is the only thing that can validate that information. We need to start getting out there and doing it.”
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