It’s the end of the month and time again for the monthly recap of bee related news. September was a great month for bee news. The most exciting news for us here in San Diego is that the County Board of Supervisors approved a new tiered beekeeping ordinance that will make it easier for backyard beekeepers to keep hives. Oh, by the way, did I mention the vote was unanimous? The final vote has been continued until October 14th, 2015 for a second reading. On that date, additional recommendations will be considered by the board. All in all, things are looking good for hobbyist beekeepers in San Diego County.
We wish that all the bee news last month was good news, but alas there were multiple stories about the dreaded drought. It seems like every month for the past past few years, we have seen multiple stories about how the drought in California has crippled the beekeeping industry. One story in particular from NPR alleges that beekeepers are leaving California because of the toll the drought has taken on the industry. This bad news did not come as a surprise to us. All the beekeepers, honey manufacturers, and other bee removal companies we network with, all say the same thing: “The bees are down”. Everyone we know in the industry has their fingers crossed that the impending El Nino will reverse this trend.
Our final hot topic for the month of September was the new UCSD study that found that africanized bees are spreading further throughout California than previously thought. The study, which collected samples from throughout the state, found africanized bees just south of Sacramento. Another article from NPR is reporting that africanized bees were also found in the Bay Area. The study also concluded what most people already knew. San Diego feral bees are at least 65% africanized. For more on this story, check out this great interview with Joshua Kohn who was one of the co authors of the study.
