in Virginia and across the world, bees are facing unprecedented challenges fro climate stress to habitat loss.

According to a recent U.S.

beekeeping survey, beekeepers lost over a half of their managed colonies in the last year.

These crucial pollinators nee our support now more than ever, and the solutions are simpler than you think.

and the solutions are simpler than you think.

[music] In my beekeeping adventures, I have had the opportunity to co-teach workshops with Keit Tignor, Virginia State Apiarist.

Keith's job is to support beekeepers across the Commonwealth by providing guidance, education and ensuring compliance with state regulations.

One of the key principles taught to beekeepers is the four P's of hive health parasites, pesticides, pathogens and poor nutrition.

Every one of these factors plays a role and whether a colony thrives or struggles and what ties all of these together?

Climate.

It affects everything.

At the start of the year, we heard reports of huge losses of hives and colonies in commercial apiaries commercial operations, And and there has been some concern about those losses.

For us, the year started off a typical winter, which we haven't had much in the past.

Also once we got through the winter and into spring we jumped right in the summer, so we had higher than normal temperatures.

And so typically honey bees take about 6 to 8 weeks that that they forage for food that provides them access to make it through the year and through the winter to the next year.

This yea we had a very short season again because of the drought and other conditions.

Honey production was very poor this year and so we're hearing some concerns about our bees, beekeepers, about how much honey they've had or don't have which is going to require them to feed their bees later in the year to make sure that they make it through the winter.

Does the difference in the growing degree days and the climate fluctuations that we've had this year.

Does that negatively affect the bees in terms of the pests that they're dealing with?

Yes.

Since the 1980s, we've been about every five years we've had a new disease or a pest or something occur in the United States that our bees hadn't been faced with.

And so they have to not knowing about i and not have been exposed to it.

It's usually very detrimental to them.

And one of the pests that came in in the late 1980s in the United States, and we started seeing it here in the 1990s in Virginia with the varroa mite.

That's something that feeds on the bees.

And so their feeding activity weakens the bees, it shortens their lifespan and so forth.

But more importantly, they're transmitting diseases One of the reasons why we saw so huge losses in the in the commercial industry this this year is being attributed to those to those viruses that are being transmitted by the varroa mite.

So for the backyard gardener from the person that lives in an urban environment that may not have green space around them, what can they do to suppor honeybees and other pollinators?

We've got over 500 bee species in Virginia.

Only one of those, the honeybee, is managed.

The others are feral.

They're wild, they're native, and they are looking for food.

So as much food as we can provide them as possible it's good.

So rather than having that perfectly mowed, manicured lawn that is a devoid of any food for them and harborage, look to put out some plants, look to put out native plants look to put out some plants, look to put out native plants They need plants that are in bloom, that are providing nectar and pollen throughout the entire year.

and pollen throughout the entire year.

By planting native plants, you're not just adding beauty to your space.

You're providing bees with food and habitat.

They rely on for thousands of years.

Native flowers bloo when local bees need them most.

They offer the right kind of nectar and pollen and help keep our local ecosystems imbalanced.

My name is Daniel.e Freeman Jefferson, and I'm an agricultural science communicator.

I am in an urban learning garden right now.

These kind of gardens function as an urban oasis for a lot of the plants, people and pollinators in this community.

Now, let me go and show you a few of the plants that the pollinators really enjoy.

All right.

This is Rosemary, and Rosemar is a really, really helpful plan for humans, but pollinators enjoy the bloom.

Now, these guys bloom a little bit early in the season, and the sugars in this plant can get up to 20% concentration, which makes it a really nice sugary snack.

Now this is Mountain Mint.

Mountain Mint as you can see, attract a wide range of pollinators.

Mountain Mint is a really long bloomer.

It has a long season Which makes it a reliable plant.

As a native it provides winter habitat to the pollinators.

It's also a really good container plant.

And I think everybody that has a community garden or even a ledge outside should have a little bit of Mountain Mint to support your local pollinators.

Now this is the ever famous Elderberry plant.

Elderberry again is a very, very helpful and popular amongst humans, our pollinators love it just as much.

Elderberry plants are high in pollen, and high in nectar.

Which makes our insect friends very happy.

With their long season and their berries.

They also support our bird and bat pollinator friends.

Now, it's time for some straight up pretty flowers.

Zinnias and Marigolds.

Marigolds and Zinnias are easy to start from seed, And they represent long term continuous season growth This next plant you might recognize off the side of a highway.

This is Goldenrod.

The late season bloom in the Golderrod helps support our pollinators far into the Fall.

Being the native plant that they are are probably not going to be found in a garden center.

So you're going to have to ask your friends, support your indigenous growers, or come to a community garden and build some relationships in order to acquire this guy for your garden.

They can be grown in containers for sure, and again are a great addition to any patio or outdoor garden that you could imagine.

Whether in gardens or containers, planting native plants is a simple, powerful act that keeps our pollinators thriving.

And when bees thrive, so does our food supply our environment and our future.

So the next time you plant, plant with purpose.

Because a few flowers a da can mean a whole lot of buzzing tomorrow.

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