Clara Faith is a Georgia native with a heart for storytelling and a deep love for weather.
It’s finally spring, and flowers aren’t the only things waking up from hibernation across the state. But the warm and dry winter has left some creatures struggling to survive. In Laura Roberts’ backyard, everything is coming out of winter dormancy — including her bees.
“I am a backyard beekeeper. I keep two hives,” Roberts said. “I think bees serve a really important part of the ecosystem.”
Roberts has kept bees for years, but this winter brought challenges.She told Denver7's Clara Faith that one of her hives likely died after last year's unseasonably warm season.“They’ve been eating through their food stores faster, so they ran out of food, and they haven't eaten the food that I feed them,” Roberts said. “So, I think one of my hives died of starvation.”
The fo-founder of Free-Range Beehives, Mike Rosol, has spent nearly a decade in the beekeeping industry and manages nearly 125 hives across the Denver area, partnering with Urban Gardens.He understands what Roberts and other backyard beekeepers are going through.“Now, with it being such a dry winter, how does it kind of impact their food supply?” said Rosol. “With the dryness, we worry about drought and not enough nectar to feed the bees.”
Rosol said his bees are now down to limited frames of honey, forcing beekeepers to supplement food sources such as dry sugar to help colonies survive.“You can use dry white sugar and put it on top of the inner cover, and the bees will come up and eat the sugar,” he said.
As the bee population grows, another threat is growing as well — mites.These parasites can wipe out entire hives if not treated, which is what Roberts suspects killed one of her neighbor's entire hive.“They eat the fat bodies of the bees,” Rosol said. “More importantly, they reproduce in cells where the baby bees are developing, so it is very difficult to see them.”
Roberts said she believes mites may have contributed to losses in nearby hives as well.Despite losing one hive, Roberts said she is not giving up.“I started beekeeping because my son had really bad seasonal allergies, and I read that local honey can help,” she said. “I started keeping bees a couple of years ago with my dad and my son.”
As the season continues to shift, she hopes her remaining hive can withstand the season through next winter.“I am watching them a little closer these days and doing everything I can to hopefully ensure their success,” Roberts said.
For now, beekeepers across the Denver area are watching closely — hoping their colonies can weather the changing climate and keep the buzz alive.—How are the drought and potential water restrictions affecting your daily life, your neighborhood, or your livelihood? Share your experiences, concerns, and questions with a Denver7 reporter by email newstips@denver7.com. Your story could be part of our ongoing coverage as we track the impacts across our communities.
What concerns you most about Colorado’s low snowpack and warm, dry winter?What solutions or water‑saving strategies are you using — or wish your community would adopt?How will water restrictions or drought conditions changed your daily routine?If you're searching for how your Colorado community is responding, or what restrictions are in place where you live, Denver7 is updating that information in this link.
Front Range Backyard Beekeeper Loses Hive As Warm Honey Production Bees Colorado Bees Colorado Bees Dying Off Colorado Bees Dying Off Due To Drought Colorado Bees Dying Off Due To Warm Weather
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