After a damp winter and severe drop in demand, Washington beekeepers report their colonies are struggling, and their profits are down.
As President of the Washington State Beekeepers Association and owner of Woods Bee Co., Alan Woods has felt the sting of these difficulties firsthand.
"In my fifteen years of keeping bees, I’ve never had a year like this," said Woods. "I just feel like I lost out."
Honey extraction at his farm in Centralia typically kicks off during the second week of July. This year, Woods predicts production will be low. He claims one contributing factor has been the weather.
"It stayed colder longer, It stayed wetter longer," explained Woods. "You can’t get into the hive when its raining."
Though Woods cares for an impressive 9.6 million honeybees, he is considered a small-scale operator.
"We do honey, we make queens, we have a store, we teach people how to beekeep," he said.
One other profitable piece of his business is transporting hives down to California for the pollination of almond plants. Historically, an estimated 2 million hives from all across the country are transported to California for this purpose. However, this year demand dropped tremendously. The implications of this have been huge for commercial keepers. Reports show that for the first time in decades, many are taking out loans.
"I would tell you I sent about 50% less this year," reported Woods.
During the winter months, Woods usually prepares for the return of his bees. "I’m getting the boxes ready and everything for the bees to come back, but I still have all these bees here that I have to take care of," he explained. "That was a lot more work."
The bees Woods expected to send to California were weak, forcing him to invest thousands more to keep them alive. "It threw my whole schedule off, so I had to work really, really hard," he said.
Despite a disappointing and demanding year, Woods remains thankful for what he has. This weekend, he and others will celebrate at the annual Pollination Festival in Olympia.