What’s all buzz at the Fair?
- Chuck Thompson
- Sep 29
- 2 min read
By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent
A honey bee display in the Dorton Exhibit Hall has fair goers buzzing with curiosity.
The glass display beehives in Dorton Exhibit Hall are called observation hives. They are designed for educational purposes and for hobbyists to view bee activity without disturbing the colony.
The observation hives have five frame levels. The two glass hives have a Queen Bee in each one, as Dan Allen, a member of the North Carolina Beekeepers Association, explains, “The queen is laying eggs, constantly, because these bees only live about six weeks. It’s amazing that all that information is transferred to young bees, knowing what to do – it’s an amazing concept how they work together.
Allen added how it’s not only amazing, but vital to the environment.
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Bees pollinate nearly 90% of all flowering plants, enabling the reproduction of vegetables, fruits and seeds that are needed for human and wildlife food sources.
Bees’ effort support ecosystems in many ways, such as contributing to healthy soil, which is necessary for nutrient cycling and the overall health of the planet.
And they’re disappearing at an alarming rate.
“They’re so vital and we’ve lost about 61% of bees,” Allen said.
Allen explained that Bees are being lost to urban expansion, weather change and mites.
“The mites are very concerning because they are taking a toll on the population,” he added. “We are constantly working on a way to combat mites. Now, we’re really behind because we haven’t been able to find anything to kill them.”
The mites Allen is referring to are ‘Varroa destructor,’ a parasitic external mite that feeds on adult honeybees and their developing larvae, weakening them and transmitting viruses that ultimately lead to the death of entire bee colonies.
He said it’s essential to get more people interested in bees, to become beekeepers in order to help repopulate and study the bees, sharing information with other beekeepers and thus learn more about the bees themselves.
“The more eyes and ears we have, watching what is going on, helps. People in the association now are very dedicated to the preservation of bees, because we have to have them. We don’t have a choice. Their populations have to be preserved.”
For more information, visit https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/.
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Chuck Thompson is a reporter for The Shelby Independent.
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