BROOKLAND, Ark. (AP) - The unprecedented loss of honey bees has put a local industry and area families in jeopardy.
The Coy family has been in the honey business since 1969. Next year, they’ll be starting their fourth-generation beekeepers in a family business that is more sweet than sour.
The Jonesboro Sun (https://bit.ly/2dZwnfp ) reports that Coy’s Honey Farm is the largest honey producer in the state. With operations located in Brookland and in southern Mississippi, the business has grown exponentially over the past few decades. Today they not only produce honey, but they also lend their bees to help farmers in California with early spring pollination of fruit crops.
With brothers Richard Coy and David Coy running the day-to-day operations, Coy’s Honey Farm continues to be a closely run family business. Though they’ve seen their share of both natural and man-made challenges over the years, the current plight of honey bees presents a new threat.
“Dad used to say a bad loss of 20 to 25 percent,” David Coy said. “Now we lose 30 to 40 percent.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers annual loss of bee colonies above 19 percent to be a disaster. According to reports from 2015, two-thirds of American beekeepers suffered losses greater than 30 percent of their bee colonies.
“The varroa mite is the biggest challenge for beekeepers in keeping bees alive,” David Coy said. He explained that the mites spread a virus that can kill bees, especially bees most commonly used in the United States.
David Coy said most bees used in honey production in the U.S. are variations of European bees. The varroa mites are native to Africa, and European bees don’t have a natural resistance. Several years ago, the Coy brothers had a shrewd business decision to purchase Russian honey bees, which proved a bit more tolerant to the pesky mites.
Today, they are raising their own queen bees through a cooperative process involving other like-minded beekeepers. The Coy brothers said it’s not just about cost savings, it’s about quality control.
“We have control over our stock; it’s kind of like the breeds of cattle,” David Coy said. “We have Russian bees the way someone else has Angus cattle. We want as close as possible to a pure stock.”
They noted that Coy’s Honey Farm has the largest stock of Russian honeybees.
Still the loss of bee colonies due to death remains a major obstacle.
“On March 1, we had 8,000 colonies. On June 1, we had 13,500 colonies,” Richard said. “On September 1, we had 11,500 colonies. We hope to have 9,000 colonies by December 1. We do that cycle every year.”
Despite the continued challenges, the brothers are planning to grow their business in the coming years. As David Coy’s two sons prepare to enter the family business, Coy’s Honey Farm hopes to put more bottles of local honey on store shelves.
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Information from: The Jonesboro Sun, https://www.jonesborosun.com
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