• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Human Interest / Beekeepers see supply shortages, higher costs as season approaches

Beekeepers see supply shortages, higher costs as season approaches

March 17, 2022 By Radio Iowa Contributor

Bees. (KCRG TV photo)

Beekeepers are starting to get ready for the bee season as temperatures warm up — but the twin impacts of inflation and supply shortages are causing concerns.

H.R. Cook picked up beekeeping as a hobby when the COVID-19 pandemic started two years ago. Now he also finds himself having to pay more for the materials he needs for beekeeping, which includes lumber, with prices that are up three to four times what they have been for the past ten years.

He tells KCRG TV some supplies have been hard to get — like those plastic bear containers for honey.
”Which are made in China, they have to be shipped from China,” he says, “there are millions of these honey bears sitting over on a cargo ship, to glass jars that we put the honey in and we sell at the farmers markets.”

Phylicia Chandler is a beekeeper and member of the Dubuque Swiss Valley Bee Club. She told KCRG TV she knows of other beekeepers who have struggled to find hive equipment and honey extractors — which could be very detrimental to beekeepers.

”When we need something, we need it now,” she says. “And it can be a matter of if you are catching a swarm and you do not have what you need, then you have nowhere to put those bees if you do not have that extra hive.” Chandler says the good side of the issue is she has noticed how so many beekeepers in eastern Iowa have come together to support one another. ”Beekeepers work together, so if they are ever in need we call on other beekeepers to help us out,” she added.

Cook says people who make a living out of beekeeping are probably feeling the impact the most. He says commercial beekeepers usually ship their bees to California during the winter to pollinate almond trees and now bringing them back with high gas prices and inflation is proving to be quite the challenge.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Human Interest, News, Outdoors

Featured Stories

Senator Ernst says Russian ban shows she’s doing something right

Bill creates new deer hunting season, with AR-15s

Governor signs Iowa Renewable Fuels Standard into law

Jury returns guilty verdict in shooting death of State Trooper

A haboob, a dust storm black out, hits northwest Iowa

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa’s Huckstorf garners national award

Iowa Special Olympics Summer games set to open in Ames

Radio Iowa/Baseball Coaches Association High School Poll 5/16/22

Iowa assistant coach Kirk Speraw to retire

Northern Iowa prepares for Missouri Valley Conference softball tournament

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2022 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC