Buzzing with pride over bees

When honeybee hives started disappearing in the mid-’90s, beekeepers knew there was a serious problem. Hive boxes that should have contained tens of thousands of honeybees were completely empty, without any clue as to what happened to their honey-producing inhabitants. The cause? Colony collapse disorder — a mysterious phenomenon that has devastated huge sectors of the agriculture industry and left scientists and apiarists scratching their heads to this day.

Enter Ron Scholzen, an Elma beekeeper of about 25 years and mentor with the Olympia Beekeeping Association.

Scholzen has seen firsthand how CCD has impacted the honeybee population, and it has served as a catalyst for his work in educating others to help sustain their own healthy hives through his instructional classes and fieldwork.

“They need our help,” said Scholzen of the bees, which he affectionately calls his “ladies.”

Last year, Scholzen lost three of his 10 hives — a disappointment, but not a catastrophe.

It’s been worse though. When the parasitic verroa mite swept across the country in the late ’80s, Scholzen’s hives were left devastated, along with those of countless private and commercial beekeepers across the country. In one year alone, Scholzen lost five of eight hives due to the parasitic mites.

While the North American verroa mite infestation was ultimately brought under control, they were just one contributing factor to CCD. Scholzen believes that the use of pesticides are currently the biggest danger to the world’s honey bee population. He believes chemicals and honeybees shouldn’t mix.

“I won’t use anything on my hives and they’re doing all right!” said Scholzen, who is in his fourth year of keeping completely chemical-free hives.

While CCD is still an ongoing issue, the media attention surrounding it has generated renewed interest in private beekeeping. At one point, the Olympia Beekeeper Association was down to around 20 members — now it’s up to about 200. This provides Scholzen with the opportunity to help mentor new beekeepers and help them get their hives up and running.

Scholzen also volunteers to teach an introductory beekeeping course with the Montesano Community Education Program.

“The whole idea is that we’re trying to build up strong hives so they can go out and bring back nectar and pollen,” he said.

Scholzen can’t stress enough the importance of healthy hives. “Everything the honeybee associates itself with is good for us.”

Besides pollinating many of the world’s crops, honeybees produce edible pollen, beeswax and of course, honey. Scholzen’s eyes light up when discussing his bees’ honey, the only food he said that will never spoil. Scholzen also takes pride in making his own beeswax candles from wax produced by his hives.

“I just take care of those ladies. It becomes kind of a loving relationship because they need our help.”