JOLIET— Montana beekeepers are facing the sting of a costly year after a warm winter, spring freeze and drought left their bees with fewer flowers to feed on.
For Patty Sundberg, owner of Columbus-based Sunshine Apiary, the financial hurt has been significant.
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“We'll be probably close to $500,000 under,” she told MTN in an interview at her hives near Joliet. “We're a one-generation business that started from scratch. Some of these are five generations long, and they're making the decision, ‘Are we going to keep it going? Are we just going to stop?’”
She said an unusually warm winter caused flowers to bud early, only for some to die during a spring freeze. Drought conditions followed, limiting the flowers bees depend on for food.
Related: Montana experts worry warm winter will hurt summer bee population
“When there's hot, dry winds, flowers don't do well,” Sundberg said. “Pollen is their protein source.”
To give her bees access to natural food sources, Sundberg transported more than 3,000 hives to North Dakota and South Dakota, adding transportation costs at a time when fuel prices were already high.
“Beekeepers in the United States are all putting in a lot of miles,” Sundberg said.
This is only the second time in her 40 years of business she has had to relocate her bees during the summer.
Just down the road in Laurel, Drange Apiary has faced similar challenges.
Manager Spencer Drange said the business transported about 2,000 hives from Broadview to Hysham in June, a distance over 100 miles.
“We just run on little trucks and so to move that many bees, it's quite expensive,” Drange said. “It’s definitely taken a big bite out of our profits.”
The rising costs forced Drange Apiary to increase its honey prices by 20%, its first price increase in seven years.
“Everyone I've talked to or seen has raised prices this year,” Drange said.
Now, the beekeepers are hoping for better weather and lower costs while encouraging consumers to choose U.S.-produced honey.
“One of our biggest competitors when it comes to the honey prices is our foreign honey,” Drange said.
According to the USDA, 82% of honey used in the U.S. was imported from suppliers such as India, Argentina, Vietnam, Brazil and Ukraine. Ten years ago, 71% of honey used in the country was imported.
“The big picture is people need to understand where their food comes from,” said Sundberg. “You have to be optimistic. Tomorrow's going to be better, or you wouldn't make it in ag.”
