The Buzz: Utah's Native Bees in Peril

Although a beehive adorns the state seal, honeybees are not native to the "Beehive State." They arrived in Utah with Mormon settlers, who held the honeybee in high regard for what, you guessed it, they considered its industrious nature and collective spirit—virtues they saw embodied in their own community. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leader Brigham Young initially named the region "Deseret," the Book of Mormon's word for honeybee.

Less celebrated is the state's notable native bee diversity. In Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument alone, more than 650 native bee species have been identified. By comparison, 750 documented native bee species exist in total east of the Mississippi.

Now, a push to store commercial honeybees in Utah's Manti-La Sal National Forest could threaten its native bee diversity. Located about 180 miles north of Grand Staircase, the national forest is home to hundreds of native bee species, including the declining western bumblebee. Scientists worry that a large influx of honeybees could bring resource competition, disease and ecosystem changes.

According to documents acquired by the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity through Freedom of Information Act requests, South Dakota-based Adee Honey Farms—the largest private beekeeper in the country—has persistently applied for bee storage on several Utah national forests since 2012, boosted by a 2014 Obama administration memorandum that directed federal agencies to aid honeybees and native bees. In the fall of 2017, Adee applied to place 100 hives each on 49 sites in Manti-La Sal, which equates to hundreds of millions of bees. To date, it has received permission to place 20 hives at just three sites.

Read more: https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/the-buzz-utahs-native-bees-in-peril/Content?oid=13447412