Why we love what we do
In 2022 I applied for a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in their Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program which is funded through the National Institute of Agriculture. From 140 proposals, 40 were approved and I received funding for 2 years starting in 2023.
Background
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It has been shown that honey bee numbers in the US are greater in cities than the countryside due to the rising popularity of beekeeping and increased floral availability and abundance within city limits. In the city there are much fewer tree cavities that are acceptable to honey bee swarms than the surrounding woodlands. Generally these urban swarms go into holes in houses where they are not welcome. The home owner usually exterminates them due to the high cost of live removal ($700 - $1000). I became concerned with the extermination of urban bee colonies which could become a rich source of locally adapted pollinators for the farmers who need a dependable and sustainable source of pollination. The decline of honey bees in the US from 6 million in the 1940's to the 2.6 million is documented by the USDA. This decline is most likely due to mite, viral, bacterial, fungal and pesticide usage in conjunction with Colony Collapse Disorder. The monocultures of corn, soybean and cereal crops have destroyed much of the native flowers that honey bees once depended on outside the cities and that problem is not addressed here.
Our Solution
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I proposed to set out swarm boxes using Dr. Leo Sharaskin's model (FNC15-1013) who was a former SARE recipient. He obtained his bees by trapping feral local bee strains adapted to the climate of southern Missouri in the forests of the Ozarks. In 2022 I partnered with the City of Lawrence, Parks and Recreation to set up a sustainable rescue program for bee swarms within the city limits. I put 19 swarm boxes into 19 parks achieving 85% success rate. The city was very pleased with meeting its sustainability goal which was included in its yearly report. The city received many inquiries about what those boxes in the park trees were doing. Everyone who asked questions of Mr. Steve Batten and myself were pleased and thought their tax dollars were being put to good use. We told them that no tax dollars were used and all of the time and materials were supplied by myself. I used repurposed wood and insulation from unrecyclable styrofoam to build the the double-walled hives and stuffings from old couches.
