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State plan encourages beekeepers, landowners to cooperate to protect bees

Katie Peikes
/
Delaware Public Media

Delaware is rolling out its final bee protection plan as a way to protect the state’s 1,500 hives.

Delaware’s agriculture industry is a big producer of watermelon, cucumbers and strawberries, which all require insect pollination.

Delaware Department of Agriculture Plant Industries Administrator Faith Kuehn said that is why it’s critical to protect the state’s bees and other pollinators.

Bees pollinate more than just food for humans, Kuehn said. They also pollinate wildflowers, which produce seeds, fruits and berries for birds and other wild animals.

“So they’re a really important link in the whole food chain,” Kuehn said.

Delaware’s pollinator protection plan looks at the challenges beekeepers and food growers face and offers management practices. Kuehn said a big part of the plan is encouraging beekeepers, landowners and garden clubs to communicate with each other.

The plan also encourages communication by touting DriftWatch, part of a program called Beecheck that launched last spring. This allows beekeepers to register the location of their hives to increase their visibility.

“Aerial applicators will know where they are and when they’re making an application [they will] be able to get in touch with them and let them know they need to make an application and need to do something to ensure the safety of their hives,” Kuehn said.

The plan has been in the works since 2014, when President Obama instructed federal agencies to promote honeybees as a key part of America’s agriculture. The state released a draft plan for public comment in January 2015.

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