Jessica Nelms

CLEMSON — Mike Hood, entomologist and professor at Clemson, came back to his alma mater to teach students about what he fell in love with during his undergraduate degree.

As the university’s “bee guy,” Hood came back to familiar ground, just like the insects he studies. Each honeybee belongs to a specific colony, and each day they return to the same one.

Hood has researched and worked with a total of 30 colonies at Clemson’s Cherry Farm over the years. Currently, he and his students are involved with two research projects.

In addition, the bees are used to teach students how to, well, beekeep of course.

The entire process that honeybees are involved with is quite intricate, Hood said, and their existence is crucial to much of our world’s food production.

One of the projects that Hood and his research team are focusing on has to do with a recent phenomenon dubbed, “Colony Collapse Disorder.”

Just over two years ago, numerous bee colonies across the country died off, while researchers could only shrug their shoulders as to why.

“Many commercial bee keepers lost upwards of 80 percent of their colonies,” he said. “So now, research is being done to nail down a reason. Clemson is honing in on one possible cause. We are trying to determine whether sublethal doses of pesticides have had anything to do with it.”

These pesticides come in the form of a plastic strip, placed inside these colonies to ward off the Varroa Mite. The mite is just one of many pests that can disrupt and harm a colony, Hood added.

“Although the research is ongoing, what we are seeing is that this phenomenon is caused by a combination of things,” he said. “Other research is showing that these collapses go hand in hand with viruses, just like humans get. As far as the pesticides are concerned, the amount is enough the kill the mite, but not enough to harm the bee. However, as we continue our studies, we may find that the pesticides do have an effect as well.”

And while the bees are not used for pollination around the campus, honeybees are used for the majority of pollination across the nation and world.

And beekeepers in various states, and even in South Carolina, will ship their bees to California each January and February.

“It’s for almond production,” Hood said. “California produces 80 percent of the worlds almonds, and it takes 1.3 million colonies to pollinate the nearly 400,000 acres of almond trees.”

A colony averages 40,000 to 50,000 bees.

And beekeepers cash in too, as they get paid $150 per colony that they bring over. And just as honeybees have always done, they return to their colony after the two-month stint is completed.

“One South Carolina bee keeper takes his bees to California, then turns around and heads to Maine for cranberry season,” Hood added.

When it comes to handling the bees, Hood said that only a small percentage of a colony is prone to sting.

“We’re talking 1 to 2 percent of bees,” he said. “But 1 percent of 50,000 is still 500. The only time we really leave them alone is when it’s cloudy or raining. Because they aren’t out foraging or flying, everyone is home and they want to be left alone.”

When retrieving honey or taking them out for research, students get into full protective gear. However, most of that is just a precaution.

“We smoke them,” he said. “We burn pine needles in a ‘smoker’ and that subdues the bees. The colony’s guard bees release a pheromone when they sense danger and get ready to defend themselves. But the smoke masks the pheromone, breaking down their alert systems and keeping them calm.”

But in the end, Hood said honeybees pollinate one third of our average diets, not to mention their indirect effect.

“Sure, foods like apples, pears, almonds, watermelons, cantaloupes, squash and cucumbers are produced with the help of pollination, but people don’t think of our meat production. Honeybees are needed to pollinate things like alfalfa, a main food for dairy and meat cows.”

So with the food chain strengthened by the work of honeybees, Hood wants the community to know that while honeybees are not on the brink of extinction, they do play an important role in our food intake and our health.

Source:  upstatetoday.com