07/25/07 Idaho honeybees, part two

Randy Johnson of Canyon County raises and sells bees and honey. He expects each winter that he'll lose a certain percentage of his honeybees. JOHNSON "Normal losses this past year of 15 to 20 percent." With colony collapse reported in many states Johnson is not seeing that happening with his bees. Right now he has about 65 hundred hives, each with up to 50 thousand bees. He thinks stress plays a role in colony collapse and moving bees probably contributes to that. JOHNSON "They have to reorient themselves in a new location. Their feed situation changes with each new location. I think if I put myself through what we put the bees through I would be stressed." Johnson and other Idaho beekeepers move all their bees to California in mid-winter so they can pollinate the almond orchards in the Central Valley. The bees come back to Idaho in April before being moved to Washington State for fruit orchard pollination and eventually onto the Dakotas for field pollination. Johnson says the colony collapses in other state are reason for concern. JOHNSON "It is getting continually more significant because of higher losses." Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott