Bzzzz... Indian Creek Nature Center sees huge increase in beekeeping class enrollment

Indian Creek Nature Center is buzzing with new beekeepers.

Enrollment in its annual beginning beekeeping class soared this year, taking off from 25 students to 75.

Lindsey Flannery, Indian Creek's business development coordinator, suspects it's because 'people are concerned about the plight of the honeybee.” For at least a decade, bees have been disappearing. In fact, so few wild honeybees exist today that most, now, are part of managed hives, Flannery said.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, beekeepers began reporting unusually high losses - 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives - in October of 2006.

The decline in population primarily is because of the Colony Collapse Disorder, a syndrome in which the colony has no adult bees, but a live queen and immature bees still alive in the hive. Other reasons include pathogens, pests, loss of habitat or lack of diversity and availability of pollen or nectar sources and finally, pesticides.

Not only are these issues troublesome for bees, but also for humans - and it goes way beyond honey.

It's more than the plight of the honeybee, 'it's really the plight of agriculture,” said Jean Wiedenheft, Indian Creek's land stewardship director and instructor of the beekeeping classes.

'One-third of the food we eat is a crop that depends on pollination,” Flannery said.

That's $15 billion worth of crops, or one in three mouthfuls of food, according to the USDA. Tree nuts - especially almonds - berries, fruits and vegetables depend on pollination of honeybees.

'If we take that pollination away, suddenly you're looking at very high food prices of foods becoming unavailable,” Wiedenheft said. 'People are realizing that the best way to combat that is to increase the bee population.”

When bees are able to pollinate, she added, 'everybody wins.” Not only will the beekeepers reap the benefits with homegrown honey, bees will continue to pollinate and increase garden yields while also maintaining their habitat and therefore themselves.

Beginning beekeeping classes at Indian Creek teach the basics of how to care for bees, from establishing a hive to harvesting and addressing the issues that might befall them, Flannery said.

'We make sure that all the beekeepers that graduate from our class have all the tools they need to manage some of those issues and keep a healthy hive,” she explained.

'It's a great way for new people to become introduced to the hobby and to meet people who are also involved so you have friends and a support group,” Wiedenheft said. 'There's a lot of new information coming out for successful strategies for keeping bees and meeting other people is a way to share your passion and knowledge.”

The cost for the yearly classes - eight monthly two-hour sessions beginning in January - is $60 for members and $90 for non-members, which includes use of the Nature Center's honeyhouse and extracting equipment.

Enrollment opens at the end of the year, but those interested now that would like a reminder when registration opens can sign up for the waitlist on Indian Creek's website: indiancreeknaturecenter.org.

If interest continues to grow like it did this year, they'll add additional sections to the class to fill demand, Flannery said.

Even if people don't want to become a beekeeper - as it requires an investment upward of $600 or more and a commitment of two to five hours a week - it's 'important for people to be aware of the things we can do to help pollinators,” she added.