Honeybee colonies decline in East Tennessee as officials research causes
DANDRIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) — U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently working with multiple colleges and nonprofits to identify the potential causes of a steep decline in honey colonies.
According to a recent study, over 60% of commercial colonies, and over 50% of hobbyist colonies have declined this year. Michael Keaton of Dandridge said he has never seen bee colonies dwindle so fast in his five years of beekeeping
Morristown seeks to boost sense of security, foot traffic with new camera system
'It is sad if you care about anything and care about life on earth when a colony dies,' said Keaton.
According to the USDA, about 35% of the world's food crops depend on pollinators to reproduce. Keaton said cutting off bee's food supply by mowing, chopping down trees, or the use of pesticides could be contributing to the decline.
'I only lost two hives, I lost like 2% of mine, and a lot of people across the U.S. have lost up to 60%.' he said.
While many beekeepers in the community have lost most or half of their colonies, Keaton said he's one of the lucky ones. He has only lost two this year, which is why he's hoping to help them bring their colonies back.
'I've seen a lot of people that have lost some of them, as much as almost 100% of their hives,' he said. 'I know a lady that had 39 hives, she has lost 38 of them. So a day in the life of beekeeper for me is to try to help people like that.'
Hartford business owner praises volunteers who helped reopen flooded coffee shop
Splitting hives and selling them is one way he hopes to help. But he said other factors, like the Varroa mite, are playing a role in the honeybee's decline.
'Little ticks we get on us. Varroa mites are like a little tick,' Keaton explained. 'It gets on them and they suck their blood, they overwinter, they got a nice big massive colony, but bees keep dying off due to the Varroa mites.'
As researchers continue to investigate if they are the culprit, Keaton stresses the importance bees have on our lives and produce production, and he urges people in the community to support local beekeepers.
▶ See more top stories on WATE.com
'I call them my girls. That's the girls, because most of the hive is girls,' he said. 'And you know what they do for America and what they do for the world pollinating and helping feed us, how many people can survive in the world without honeybees?'
According to the USDA Agricultural Research Service, beekeepers have identified Varroa mites as their most serious problem causing colony losses today. Factors in their environment or exposure to chemicals are also being explored.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Funding shortfalls hamper North Carolina's program to buy out hog farms in or near floodplains
A hog CAFO in eastern North Carolina. (Photo: Rick Dove) This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. As soon as the skies clear after a hurricane hits eastern North Carolina, Larry Baldwin climbs in the passenger seat of a single-engine plane, usually with his friend and pilot Rick Dove, and surveys the industrialized swine farms inundated with flood water. 'It's almost indescribable. You look down and see that they're either flooded or sides of a lagoon—we call them cesspools—are completely blown out,' said Baldwin, the Waterkeeper Alliance's coordinator for Pure Farms Pure Waters, a nonprofit that advocates for stronger regulations over factory farms. Meteorologists are predicting an above-average hurricane season, which began June 1. If a storm hits eastern North Carolina this year, flooding could jeopardize the structural integrity of hundreds of industrialized hog farms, whose massive open-air waste lagoons are vulnerable to hurricanes and heavy rain, an Inside Climate News analysis of publicly available flood maps and a state permit database shows. As of March, there were 8.1 million hogs in North Carolina concentrated animal feeding operations, also known as CAFOs. Of the 129 permitted swine operations in Bladen County, about 20 percent lie less than 1,000 feet from flood-prone areas. Closer to the coast, in Pender and Craven counties, the figure is 40 percent. Removing farms from the 100-year floodplain is critical for the environment and public health. If lagoons overtop, millions of gallons of urine and feces can contaminate residents' yards, private drinking water wells, rivers, creeks and wetlands with E. coli and other harmful bacteria. But complex USDA requirements, delays related to the COVID pandemic and underfunding have hampered the state in finishing its voluntary swine farm buyout program. The program receives funding from the USDA's National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the state legislature. President Trump has proposed cutting the NRCS budget by 88 percent, from $916 million to $112 million, part of his plan to shrink the federal government. The state Department of Agriculture uses the money to purchase permanent conservation easements on properties within the 100-year floodplain that are currently used for swine production. Farmers bid on an amount they would accept to relinquish their permit to operate a concentrated animal feeding operation, known as a CAFO, in the 100-year floodplain and to allow the state to establish a conservation easement on the property. Applications are ranked based on several criteria: the facility's history of flooding, distance to a water supply or high-quality waters, structural condition of the lagoons and the elevation of the hog barns and lagoon dikes in the 100-year flood plain. If accepted into the program, farmers can still use the land for other agriculture, such as pasture-based beef, row crops, hay and vegetable farming, but it would prohibit using the easement area as a spray field for swine waste. This disposal system sprays liquid waste from the lagoons onto nearby farm fields as fertilizer. The lagoons are also closed when the conservation easements are put in place. Demand for the program has exceeded funding. A total of 149 swine operations have bid in at least one of the five buyout rounds. The state has purchased easements on 45, at a cost of nearly $20 million, according to Department of Agriculture figures. Of that amount, USDA has contributed over $1 million. The purchases total 1,288 acres of easements and represent the removal of 62,300 hogs and 108 lagoons from the floodplain. Will Summer is executive director of the state's Land and Water Fund, which awards grants to the state Agriculture Department for the buyout program. He said 'the timing and availability of federal matching funds have further delayed project implementation.' The USDA did not respond to repeated requests for comment. David Williams, director of the state's Soil and Water Division, who has run the program since its inception, said the USDA has been cooperative, but 'it's been challenging' to make specific conditions at the farms fit with federal requirements. For example, USDA limits the percentage of concrete or asphalt—impervious surface—on a farm that has applied for a buyout. It was difficult for a smaller operation to meet that requirement because it had less acreage, Williams said, so that farm's easement was purchased solely with state funds. The state legislature funded the first round of buyouts in 1999, after North Carolina was hit by a trifecta of strong hurricanes within two months. Hurricane Floyd dropped 17 inches of rain on the eastern part of the state, where floods overtopped waste lagoons and killed at least 100,000 hogs. After four successful buyout rounds, the legislature stopped funding its share of the program in 2007. That stranded dozens of CAFOs in the flood plains and left a backlog of roughly 100 farmers who had applied for a buyout. The value of the program became apparent during the 2016 storm Hurricane Matthew. State agriculture officials reported that 32 farms, accounting for 103 lagoons, would have been inundated had they not been removed from the flood plain. Then came Hurricane Florence in 2018, which inundated eastern North Carolina. Six lagoons were damaged, another 32 overtopped and nine were flooded, state records show. Without a dedicated funding source, the state Department of Agriculture cobbled together $5 million to restart the program. The legislature later kicked in another $5 million. Recently, the state Agriculture Department received two more grants to purchase easements: $2.5 million from USDA and an additional $719,000 from the state's Land and Water Fund. That's only a small portion of the $20 million it would cost to purchase easements on the remaining swine farms that have applied for the program, Williams said. That doesn't include the hundreds more farms located next to the flood zones. Some barns and lagoons are as close to a floodway as the distance between home plate and first base on a Major League Baseball field. The risks also don't account for the enormous poultry operations and the millions of birds that farmers co-locate with their swine operations. 'You see a poultry farm, and right across the field there's a swine farm, and sometimes there are cattle grazing in the same fields,' Baldwin said. With a few exceptions, the location of those poultry farms and their waste disposal sites aren't public record under state law. The only way to locate the poultry CAFOs is to fly over them, consult aerial maps or plow through building permits. 'The poultry issue has become as big, if not a bigger, problem,' Baldwin said. In flood-prone Robeson County, one poultry farm has 48 barns, holding a total of nearly 1.7 million birds. Baldwin said post-storm flooding is significantly problematic. 'Millions of gallons of hog waste, plus poultry waste and in some cases, waste from treatment plants. The water quality is just horrendous,' he said. 'I like to use the term 'petri dish,' because that's what it is.'
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Kokua Line: Are needy Hawaii kids getting summer food money?
Question : Last summer kids on SNAP got money for over the summer. Will they do this again this summer ? Answer : Yes. You are referring to the SUN Bucks program, also known as Summer EBT, which is underway and remains open for applications, according to the state Department of Human Services. Many school-aged children, including those in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, automatically qualified for SUN Bucks ; their households did not need to apply. A mainland vendor began mailing SUN Bucks electronic benefit transfer cards to those children starting the week of May 19, with delivery expected to take two to three weeks, according to DHS. If your household qualified for automatic enrollment but has not received the $177 benefit per child, you may call the SUN Bucks customer serv ice line toll-free at 1-888-975-SEBT (7328 ) to ensure your correct mailing address is on file. 'We are using the mailing address based on the child's school records, or the household's mailing address per their SNAP or TANF case, if the household participates or has participated in those programs. If families believe we may have incorrect mailing information ' they should call the aforementioned number to report the change of address, according to the DHS website. Families whose children were not automatically enrolled but who meet the requirements still have time to apply. Go to to apply online or to download a paper application and for eligibility details, including household income cutoffs. Note that 'households that applied for, and were determined eligible for, Summer 2024 during the period of July 1, 2024, through August 4, 2024, do not need to submit an application for Summer 2025. The same Summer 2024 application will be used to determine eligibility for Summer 2025, ' DHS says. The program, which is funded by the state of Hawaii and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is meant to ensure that school-age children who usually eat breakfast and lunch at school have access to healthy food during the summer break. According to Human Services, school-aged children are automatically eligible for SUN Bucks (no application required ) if :—The child's household participated in SNAP or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in any month from July 1, 2024, through Aug. 3, 2025 ; or—The child has been identified as a ward of the state (foster child ), or identified by their school as homeless, migrant, or runaway ; or—The child attended a school that offers the National School Lunch Program, and their household applied for and was approved for free or reduced-price school meals. School-aged is defined as 'a child who will have arrived at the age of at least 5 years on or before July 31 of the school year, and who will not have arrived at the age of 18 years, by Jan. 1 of any school year.' Exceptions allow SUN Bucks benefits for some younger children, including those in Head Start. See the DHS website for details. Q : As we approach the second anniversary of the Maui fires, I am wondering how much that one big fund ended up collecting and if they've spent it all ? A : Nearly $210 million has been donated to the Maui Strong Fund (including interest earned ), of which about $141 million has been awarded and committed to grantees, according to the Hawaii Community Foundation, which administers the fund. Read about specific grants on the HCF website, . The fund provides financial resources for the immediate and long-term needs of people and places affected by that devastated Lahaina and also ravaged Kula.------------Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813 ; call 808-529-4773 ; or email.------------
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Missouri begins issuing summer food aid for kids
Most eligible kids will receive the benefits automatically and won't need to apply, but those who do need to apply must do so by Aug. 31 (USDA photo). Missouri has begun issuing federal food benefits that could reach 475,000 kids this summer. The first batch of Missouri's summer food benefits for children were issued on Thursday night, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services told The Independent Friday. Each eligible child will receive a one-time benefit of $120, loaded onto a card that can be used like a debit card to buy groceries. The program is designed to help low-income families pay for food during summer months. States pay 50% of the administrative costs and the federal government pays 100% of the benefits. It's part of a permanent federal program in its second year of existence called Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, or SUN Bucks. The program aims to help kids who receive subsidized school meals avoid a summer drop-off in nutrition. The state in years past has struggled to get the benefits out to cover the summer months. Last year they didn't begin going out until September, due to technical issues, the state said at the time. Food security advocates in the state were relieved when Missouri opted into the program after weighing factors like technology issues and staffing. There were 11 Republican-led states that opted not to offer the program this year, and a 12th, Oklahoma, will offer it only to tribal nations. Most eligible families in Missouri will receive the benefits automatically. The following groups of kids are automatically eligible, and their families will not need to apply for benefits: Students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch during the school year, Households already enrolled in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or temporary assistance, And children between ages 7 and 17 in foster care, who are experiencing homelessness or are migrants. Those benefits will be issued on an existing card if the family is enrolled in SNAP benefits or temporary assistance, or on a new mailed card if they are not. Families who need a new EBT card can request one by phone or the ebtEDGE mobile app. Families who are not automatically eligible must submit an application online by Aug. 31. The state's eligibility navigator will tell families whether they must apply. Benefits will expire 122 days after they are issued, regardless of usage, so families must act quickly once the benefits are distributed. They should also keep the cards for next summer's program, the state's website advises. An estimated 475,000 Missouri kids could receive the benefits, according to a letter to the state from the federal Food and Nutrition Service earlier this year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
