As a forklift moves the syrup on to the beekeepers trucks, Amy Vu, a bee researcher with the University of Florida, says the hit that bees took here affects everyone.ĪMY VU: Even if you're not a beekeeper, you know, this is related to you in a way because the beekeepers are working really hard to help put, you know, healthy, nutritious foods on our table. SHERIDAN: He hopes the corn syrup stops this because these battles can kill what's left of a colony. Demetrius Washington says the bees are fighting each other to eat.ĭEMETRIUS WASHINGTON: They robbing other hives out - that have honey. SHERIDAN: In addition to destroying bee boxes, the hurricane also blew away tree blossoms and destroyed so much vegetation, the bees can't find food. But this - I'm telling you, this is the worst I've seen. ROBERT HILL: I've been through Charley, Irma, and quite - other little freak storm. The syrup is to help feed the bees that survived because they're starving. SHERIDAN: Robert Hill is among the beekeepers here, picking up donations of corn syrup in big 250-gallon containers. And then we had the flood that came through that drowned them. Some of those winds actually sucked the bees - the frames out of our boxes. He said he hadn't been able to check on about half of his bee yards yet, but the ones he has seen are bad.ĬOUNCELL: The winds blew the lids off, exposed the bees. Councell and a dozen other beekeepers gathered one recent morning at an agricultural center here.
SHERIDAN: Floodwaters still hug the roadsides in this small inland country town. So from Pine Island, all the way up through here in Arcadia.
KEITH COUNCELL: Yeah, it literally followed the line of my farms. He says Hurricane Ian took aim at all of them. His hives stretch from the coastal areas near Fort Myers, 50 miles inland. KERRY SHERIDAN, BYLINE: Keith Councell raises bees for a living. From member station WUSF, Kerry Sheridan has this report. Researchers are still assessing the damage, but beekeepers say the losses may complicate the growing season for crops throughout the country. Close to 15% of the nation's bees were in the hurricane's path. But there's another impact we're learning more about. Now, we've talked a lot about the terrible human toll and the devastating property damage. Let's go back to one of the other major stories we followed in recent weeks, Hurricane Ian.
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