Almond growers say it’s too soon to know if the delay in the bees’ emergence will hurt the state’s nut crop, which accounts for about 80% of the world’s almonds.
During California’s prolonged, wet winter, beekeeper Gene Brandi said he had to spend twice as much money on a sugary syrup to feed his honeybees and keep them alive.
The challenge is one of many faced by America’s beekeepers following the unusually wet winter that ravaged California’s farm country, which feeds much of the nation. Most commercial beekeepers send their bees to California early in the year to help pollinate its $5 billion-a-year almond crop, then move them elsewhere to pollinate commodities ranging from avocados to cherries or to the Midwest to produce honey.
Beekeeper Gene Brandi's sage honey is shown at a cherry tree orchard in San Juan Bautista, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2023. Brandi said he had to feed his bees twice as much as usual during almond pollination. But with spring rushing in, he said he'll take his hives to the California coast where bees can forage on a native plant to make sage honey, a premium product that he can only make every few years when there's ample rain.
Beekeeper Gene Brandi checks the condition of his hives at a cherry tree orchard in San Juan Bautista, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2023. Beekeeper Gene Brandi tends to his hives at a cherry tree orchard in San Juan Bautista, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2023. It also took a toll on bees, who were slow to emerge from their hives during the cold front and weeks of showers.
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