New Hampshire Beekeepers Say Climate Change Stressing Out Their Bees

Lee Alexander has been keeping bees most of his life and learned from his grandfather and great uncle.

He’s quick to mention he’s no beekeeping expert, but in 50 years, he’s seen a thing or two.

Alexander says spring and summer temperatures came earlier this year.

Wildflowers arrived with them, weeks ahead of schedule.

This set up his bees to collect a lot of nectar and pollen, creating some unexpected problems in the hive.

Alexander’s bees quickly made more honey than they could store in the upper chambers of the hive, where it belongs. Instead, they began storing it in the brood chambers, meant for reproduction.

Worker bees only live for about a few weeks to a month, and a queen must lay thousands of eggs each day to replace them.

Olivia Saunders, a field specialist with University of New Hampshire extension, said the amount of stressors a hive sees each year has increased due to climate change.