The High Cost of Neglected Apiaries
A local beekeeping expert warns that failing to clear weeds from hive entrances is costing regional producers significant honey yields.
One of the most common things to be seen in many apiaries at this time of the year, where the hives set within a few inches of the ground, is grass and weeds growing up in front of the entrance. Bees, heavily loaded with honey or pollen, struggle to reach the hive, first with the wings, then on foot, then taking wing again, or crowding through a tangled mass of stuff. The result is often many loads of pollen left behind at their very door. This not only causes them much extra work, wearing their precious lives out much sooner, but it is a waste of time, often amounting to nearly a pound of honey each day. To be modest, call the average loss only one-half pound, and we have 50 pounds as the loss in an apiary of 100 colonies. This, at 10 cents, equals a loss of $5 a day for every day that grass and weeds remain during the honey flow. Reader, think it over, and ask yourself if you can afford it. If not, go right out at once and remedy this matter.
“This not only causes them much extra work wearing their precious lives out much sooner, but it is a waste of time to them, often amounting to nearly a pound of honey each day.”
The advice from G. M. Doolittle highlights the intersection of agricultural efficiency and environmental management. Today, as urban beekeeping grows in Yakima, the struggle to maintain healthy, productive hives remains a core concern for local hobbyists and commercial producers alike.
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