Peter Coyote, PRESS DEMOCRAT
The Sonoma County-based Pollinator Advocacy Alliance is advocating a countywide ordinance to address these impacts and urging Sonoma County residents to support limiting and regulating the number and placement of commercial hives in Sonoma County, protecting native pollinators and supporting sustainable local beekeeping practices.
Residents of Sonoma County may soon receive inquiries from commercial beekeepers seeking to overwinter their hives on private land in return for honey. Here are some facts people should know before accepting the offer.
The majority of these bees come from industrial operations where they’ve been worked hard, exposed to and weakened by pesticides and diseases. According to the American Beekeeping Federation and the American Honey Producers Association, in a letter to the secretary of agriculture, current bee die-offs are “unprecedented.” The Apiary Inspectors of America and Food Business News cite the following data:
U.S. beekeepers lost 55.1% of their colonies during 2023-2024, the highest loss rate since records began in 2010, and 15 points higher than the 13-year average loss rate of 40.3%.
Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/opinion/sonoma-county-bees-pollinators-peter-coyote/