The newest pilots at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base arrived Tuesday morning. The thousands of bees inside here are part of a pilot project designed to help save Ohio's bee populations. 40,000 bees made the trip to their new home at the base. It is part of what is called the "Propolis Project." "It's extremely exciting because bees are in decline. This past 12 months from April to April of this year Ohio lost 50 percent of their honey bees," said Dwight Wells the President of the West Central Ohio Beekeepers Association. Part of that drastic drop is because of a loss of habitat but there are also pests that are killing Ohio's colonies. "A lot of beekeepers bring their bees up from down south and we're bringing all the diseases and pests with them and then they don't survive our winters," said Barbara Bloetscher with the Ohio Dept. of Agriculture. As if those two were not bad enough, chemical pesticides are also taking some of the blame. So beekeepers and farmers are looking for what are being termed "Ohio Hearty" bees. That means they can deal with our sweltering hot sticky summers and our bitterly cold winters. Farmers rely on bees to pollinate more than 70 different crops. Bees are involved in about a third of the food we eat, mainly fresh fruits but also some vegetables. "Without honey bees there are a lot of things we will not have to eat in our diet and those are the ones that give us the vitamins and minerals and all that," said Wells. W.P.A.F.B. says it Is happy to play a role in bringing back the bees. "Not only for Ohio but nationally there's concern for the decline in bee population and if the work here helps with that we're certainly proud supporters," said Michael Howe the Deputy Director of Civil Engineers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. You can do your part to save the bees. Just plant flowers in your yard and do not use chemical pesticides. Originally posted Tuesday, June 16th, 2015.
