The rebuilding and recovery from the flooding after Helene continues for many in Western North Carolina, and that includes beekeepers who lost millions of bees and hundreds of beehives. But many individuals and organizations have come to the rescue, even perfect strangers, to replace honey bee pollinators so crucial to our ecosystem.

The most recent heart-warming example is the Siers Family of Elizabeth, W. Va. who contacted Toe Cane Beekeepers to ask how they could help. Larry and Marianne Siers and their son Charles had seen the devastating videos of the flooding and heard the tragic stories of lost lives and property.

On Saturday, Feb. 22, the family loaded up a big box trailer and traveled 350 miles to Spruce Pine to deliver dozens of hive boxes they built in their small woodshop. Beekeepers from all over Yancey, Mitchell and Avery County who had lost their bees, gathered at the Toe Cane club’s Educational Apiary (Bee Yard) at Mayland Community College to pick up the woodenware and to thank the Siers Family for their kindness.  This is the first round of aid to beekeepers organized by the bee club, and more donations are to be distributed in the coming months.

“My heart just broke for you guys,” said Charles Siers. “Dad is a beekeeper and runs a little woodshop,  and I knew we could help out, so we talked to the club and found out what was needed right away and started building boxes.”

As TCBA President Debbie Griffith told the crowd, “The storm took so much from us all, but it made us stronger with all the good that came afterward. Isn’t it amazing there are people left in the world who help perfect strangers?” 

The beekeepers will now be able to begin rebuilding their stocks of bees now that Spring is on the way. Bees were particularly vulnerable due to the storm – even those that survived the initial flooding.  It’s been reported that due to lack of the Fall food sources that were washed away – specifically goldenrod and aster – the surviving bees have struggled to have enough food to withstand a very cold winter. Bee losses due to cold, disease and lack of food are estimated to be around 50 percent in this area, and up to 65 percent nationally.  These losses will reduce the amount of pollination by honey bees that are responsible for up to a third of the food we eat.

The Siers Family is just the latest example of the assistance offered to the Toe Cane club.  Sister organizations, sponsored by the NC State Beekeepers Association, have also offered help including Cumberland County Beekeepers, who are raising small hives of bees to be delivered in May, and Montgomery County Beekeepers are collecting sugar for Spring feeding.  Other beekeepers also have donated used bee equipment including Toe Cane member Zach Gellman of Burke County and Wayne and Robin Smith of Yancey County.

Toe Cane Beekeepers is a non-profit association dedicated to helping bees and beekeepers via education, outreach and mentoring. For more information about TCBA, visit the website toecanebeekeepers.net