OTTAWA, Ill. — A recent hypothesis related to the great loss of honeybees nationwide is among factors that have the year-old Illinois Valley Beekeepers Assoc. (IVBA) humming.

“The biggest theory people have grabbed onto now is that of seeds coated with insecticides,” IVBA President David Rolfe of South Ottawa noted. “The seed actually grows and the insecticide is systemic (affecting multiple organs, systems or tissues, or the entire body) inside the flower or the plant. The insecticide deters insects, but it also deters the bees.

“The belief is that the insecticide that’s inside the plant – not just sprayed on the plant – the bees gather the pollen and it confuses them. They don’t know where their hive is or how to get to the hive. That’s the theory, and it seems to be people are concentrating on that issue.”

Rolfe, who led the association’s monthly meeting April 12, said science and the USDA are beginning to look into this. A big problem stands in the way, he said, in that seed-producing companies are tied to the government. They also have the goal to produce more plants per seed for human and animal consumption.

“So, one of the goals for them is to make sure their plants and their crops are protected from damaging insects,” Rolfe said. “Unfortunately, this is also affecting the bees. But if the companies can’t use this insecticide that’s systemic in the plants to protect them from other insects, they lose money, of course.”

For Rolfe and some of the 40-plus people who attended the meeting, beekeeping is a hobby. He has one hive at this time after losing two others last summer, but he plans to build the number back up. He has placed an order for more honeybees, but will also try to split the existing hive into more hives.

Some beekeeping hobbyists maintain 2-3 hives. Others keepers maintain up to 20 or more hives and sell the honey the bees generate.

The IVBA was begun about a year ago to help those interested in beekeeping. The association isn’t just for neophytes; even experienced beekeepers belong and bounce ideas off each other.

“The association is also trying to help spread the word about bees and pollination and that bees are actually a good thing for us,” Rolfe said. “However, saving of the bees is just a small part of what we try to do, which is teaching the group and also the community about bees themselves.

“In the last few years, we’ve heard about CCD, so I think when people are learning about saving the bees, I think they are mainly referring to CCD, the colony collapse disorder. But that’s just a small part of what we do. It’s something we’re aware of, but nobody is quite 100 percent sure what is causing it, so we keep up with information and try to get that information out so beekeepers know what’s going on, and have the latest information so we can be aware of how to best treat our bees.”

Susan Calhoun of Ottawa – who, with her husband, Merlin, owns Starved Rock Honey Co. – told the group steps to take after the honeybees they’ve ordered are delivered.

First is removal of the queen from her shipping box and her installation between two frames in the hive. Sugar syrup or candy is also placed in the hive for food until the worker bees start gathering pollen to produce honey to feed it.

Transferring bees from their shipping carton to their new home in the hive should be done on a gentle spring day with the sun shining and a warm temperature, Calhoun said. Also, the bees can be sprayed with sugar water to keep them from clumping together before they begin gathering pollen.

April Morgano of Joliet, IVBA treasurer and member of 2 Let It Bee, Inc., a honeybee revitalization project, discussed several of the diseases that can affect honeybees. 

Primary among them is American foul brood disease (AFBD), which Morgano said is “the worst thing you can encounter, because you have to burn the hive and then bury (the ashes) at least 15 inches underground.”

Each scale from a dead AFBD larva contains up to 100 million spores. Also, honeybee drones can spread the disease by carrying the spores from an infected hive to a clean hive. This, she said, is the reason to bury the ashes after burning the hive.

Other diseases include the European foul brood, a stress disease most prevalent in spring and early summer, and small hive beetles, wax moths, mice and parasite mites.

“Our intent is to save the honeybees,” Morgano noted, adding anyone experiencing a swarm of honeybees on their property should contact local police, not try to kill or remove the bees themselves. Police will put the caller in touch with an experienced honeybee removal service.

Anyone interested in the IVBA may email dgrolfe@gmail.com to reach Rolfe. Dues are $20 annually. Monthly meetings are the second Friday each month, and held at the LaSalle County extension office on Illinois 23 in Ottawa.

“You don’t have to own bees to join,” Rolfe said. “Anyone is welcome, even if they just have an interest in bees.”