Bees in our area are continuing to disappear.
Two years ago Newswatch 16 reported bees were mysteriously dying not only here but across the country.
Beekeeper David Hackenburg can't seem to figure out what exactly is killing his bees. "It's like a mystery when you open that lid up. You don't know what you are going to find. They may have been good last week but this week they may have taken a crash," Hackenburg said.
He owns Hackenburg Apiaries. He sells honey and uses his bees to pollinate farms.
Hackenburg said a condition called colony collapse disorder is effecting his hives. Two years ago he spotted the problem. Since then he has lost about 50 percent of his bees.
For the beekeeper it means more work to keep the bees he has and that means higher prices.
Hackenburg said he feeds his bees a special protein diet but they are still not healthy.
"Something is going wrong with our environment. The bees go out here. You can't build a fence around these bees and say don't fly outside the fence. They fly for miles in any direction and something out there that they found a contaminated with pesticides or some other contaminate," Hackenburg added.
Officials at the Penn State Cooperative Extension said this is a problem across the country. They said some factors could be pesticides, parasites and disease but the cause of the disorder has not been pin pointed.
Brian Campbell uses Hackenburg's bees to pollinate his pumpkins.
"We are still getting the bees but bee producers are having to replenish their hives so they are incurring the cost of creating and making more hives. Therefore they are passing that cost onto us. So we've seen our hives double in cost," Campbell said.
"The consumer doesn't realize part of the reason his fruits and vegetables are costing more because there is less bees out here to do the job and we have to pass these increased cost onto them," said Hackengurg.
He went on to say the future is uncertain but he will continue to try to fight for his bees.
Two years ago Newswatch 16 reported bees were mysteriously dying not only here but across the country.
Beekeeper David Hackenburg can't seem to figure out what exactly is killing his bees. "It's like a mystery when you open that lid up. You don't know what you are going to find. They may have been good last week but this week they may have taken a crash," Hackenburg said.
He owns Hackenburg Apiaries. He sells honey and uses his bees to pollinate farms.
Hackenburg said a condition called colony collapse disorder is effecting his hives. Two years ago he spotted the problem. Since then he has lost about 50 percent of his bees.
For the beekeeper it means more work to keep the bees he has and that means higher prices.
Hackenburg said he feeds his bees a special protein diet but they are still not healthy.
"Something is going wrong with our environment. The bees go out here. You can't build a fence around these bees and say don't fly outside the fence. They fly for miles in any direction and something out there that they found a contaminated with pesticides or some other contaminate," Hackenburg added.
Officials at the Penn State Cooperative Extension said this is a problem across the country. They said some factors could be pesticides, parasites and disease but the cause of the disorder has not been pin pointed.
Brian Campbell uses Hackenburg's bees to pollinate his pumpkins.
"We are still getting the bees but bee producers are having to replenish their hives so they are incurring the cost of creating and making more hives. Therefore they are passing that cost onto us. So we've seen our hives double in cost," Campbell said.
"The consumer doesn't realize part of the reason his fruits and vegetables are costing more because there is less bees out here to do the job and we have to pass these increased cost onto them," said Hackengurg.
He went on to say the future is uncertain but he will continue to try to fight for his bees.
