East Texas Ag News: Honeybees need extra care following extreme winter cold snap

EAST TEXAS (KLTV/KTRE) - Most Texas beekeepers appear to have avoided extreme hive losses during Winter Storm Uri, but honeybees need extra care following the historic cold.

The US Department of Agriculture is surveying Texas beekeepers to determine the extent of bee and hive losses from the storm, but damage reports were limited.

A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert says bee die-offs occurred but that total hive losses were relatively limited to worker bees that balled up on the outer edges to insulate the hive from the cold.

Smaller and stressed hives were likely more susceptible because they did not have the numbers to generate enough warmth to survive.

Hives should recover if the queen and enough worker bees survived, but experts say it is a critical time for them because wildflower blooms are behind schedule.

Beehives that survived will need help from supplemental food to thrive.

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