As native bee populations shrink, bee rentals buzz

SOUTH PEKIN, Ill. -- Bill and Cheri Miller stand amid a sea of pumpkin plants as they check on their beehives, each full of thousands of buzzing, darting honeybees that are doing most of the work in these fields until harvest time rolls around.

In addition to producing honey for the Millers to collect in the fall, they also are earning the Millers rent money (about $40 per hive) from the farmers who own these fields. And for the farmers, they are completing the crucial work of pollinating the plants, which will culminate in more and healthier pumpkins.

As business relationships go, Bill Miller said, this one's almost foolproof.

"It benefits the farmers and it benefits us," he said.

Damage from mites

The number of wild bees has dropped over the past five to 10 years, in part because of damage done by two types of mites deadly to the insect, Carl Wenning of the Illinois State Beekeepers Association said.

"Without the bees out there in the environment, there would be a significant drop in production. More and more people are bringing in bees, because they're finding when you do put a few colonies in the middle of a field they get significant increases in production," he said.

The Millers have about 300 hives containing up to 60,000 bees each, and at this time of year they're spread from their home in Washington to fields around Manito about 30 miles away helping pollinate orchards, pumpkins and melon patches. They are among an increasing number of beekeepers in Illinois and elsewhere who rent out their bees to help pollinate crops and offset decreases in wild honeybee numbers caused by disease and loss of habitat.

Illinois Department of Agriculture officials say about 1,200 beekeepers are registered in the state. They fall under three categories: hobbyists with a handful of hives, "sideline keepers" who manage a few hundred and professional keepers who have more than 1,000 hives.

Bees a sideline

Jerry Hayes, Hamilton-based marketing director for Dadant & Sons, a national seller of beekeeping equipment, said most bee rentals in Illinois are handled by sideline keepers who have a regular job in addition to raising bees for their honey.

Central Illinois forms a pocket that's perfect for such arrangements because pumpkins are a big local crop and pumpkins need honeybee pollination to flourish. Each fall, more than 100,000 tons of pumpkins are canned at plants in Morton, just east of Peoria -- accounting for about 80 percent of the pumpkin consumed in this country.

Keith Garman, who farms in Manito, works pumpkins in among his corn and soybean fields. He spent more than $1,000 renting 26 hives, one for every 10 acres, this year.

"Without the bees, I'm not sure we could get a decent yield on pumpkins," he said.

Garman rents from the Millers, who both have day jobs -- he works for Komatsu and she for a title search company. Bill Miller said they are putting their profits back into bees and hives, planning to almost double their bee operation each year until they both retire and can concentrate on it full time.

On the other end of the spectrum is Glen Sharpe of Frankfort, who has about 1,000 hives and ranges from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes region. Sharpe said he takes his hives to Florida to start each year, then follows the spring bloom north to pollinate melons, pickles, apple groves and blueberries in Michigan.

Demand up

Sharpe said demand for rental bees has gone up in recent years, but he's not sure whether that's because there are fewer wild bees or because of greater awareness of the benefits of proper pollination.

Bees gather pollen as they go from plant to plant seeking the nectar they carry back to the hive to turn into honey. Along the way, the pollen they pick up is transferred to other plants, making them more fertile.

Hayes said crops that need the most pollination usually yield less nectar, thus less honey, than other plants. He said a rental hive may produce 100 pounds of honey per year that can sell for 65 to 70 cents per pound -- making it well worth the owner's time to rent each hive two or more times per season at $35 to $45 per rental.

"That's why doing these other things like pollination can really help your bottom line," he said.

Sharpe said bees can provide a decent income.

"You get what you put into it. There's a lot of front-end costs," he said.

Agricultural officials say more than 60 domestic crops are dependent on bees for pollination.

Hayes said most people have no respect for the part bees play in agricultural production because they go no farther than the grocery to get their food.

"I think most people in our society are afraid of and, as a result, don't have an appreciation for, bugs," he said.