Bees Getting A Boost

Over the last few years we have been hearing about massive losses in bee colonies and since Washington State is one of the largest fruit producing states which of course rely heavily on the honey bee population for pollination. Now producers are using a USDA conservation program to create habitats these pollinators can thrive in. Kirk Hanlin of the Natural Resources Conservation Service talks about the Environmental Quality Incentive Program.

HANLIN: Through the EQIP program, what we do is work with farmers to improve their farmland in ways that benefit the honeybees and how this works with EQIP is each state gets an allocation of funding every year. This is money above their normal funding specifically targeted for the type of conservation efforts that help honeybees

Hamlin talks about the importance of commercial honeybees.

HANLIN: Honeybees account for almost $15-billion dollars in ecological services for our country. A lot of those honeybees are trucked around the country during the early spring going to different places. There's a point during the spring where 90% of all honeybees in the country can be found out in California pollinating almond groves.

The EQIP funds are being used to help maintain those bees during their off-season time.

And that's Washington Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.