Local beekeeper working to stop colony kill

In beekeeper David Dodson’s medicine cabinet you won’t find Band-Aids and Neosporin.  More like beetle traps and medicines to protect his bee hives.

Tiny mites are infecting millions of honeybees.  Much like a tick they attach themselves to the bee’s body sucking its blood.  The mites can also spread deadly viruses.
   
Of course bees help pollinate crops at farms.  Without them, you could see less of your favorite fruits and vegetables in grocery stores.

Dodson like many other beekeepers struggle to keep them buzzing.

The mites that live on and in the bees aren’t anything new, in fact Dodson says they’ve been around for over a decade, but there are many questions still looming as to why so many colonies are disappearing.

“There is a very serious problem going and we don’t know exactly what it is,” Dodson said.

He lost two hives last year, and now has turned to various chemical treatments.  He says so far they seem to be working.

“To me beekeeping is what if I do this will the bees survive, what if I do part of this and part of this and mix it together will the bees survive, and I work it that way,” Dodson explained.

However, a Virginia Tech researcher advises those in the bee industry to use chemicals last.  He worries the bees will build up a tolerance.

“They would build up an immunity to the medication.  They would eat it, they would walk on it, they’d rub all over it, they’d do their thing, but it wouldn’t do any good,” Dodson said.

The researcher we spoke with says even though treatment may or may not be working more studies are needed