MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - For decades the honey bee population in the world has been dying off. The NRDC estimates about thirty-percent of the world's crop depend on honey bees pollinating them.
"There a multitude of different things from pesticides being used by farms and orchards and stuff like that, even local households using them. Then, they aren’t surviving the winter. They are having a lot of issues so their population is dwindling and it’s really coming down to the backyard bee keeper," said apiary manager Robert Parkes.
Parkes is the manager of the new apiary or home home for bees at Millersville University. With funding from two grants, donations from local businesses, the assistance of Dr. John Wallace and help from fellow students Parkes created the apiary. Right now they have two hives, but over the next few years they anticipate having about eight which would equal more than 80,000 bees.
Parkes is a Marine veteran and spent seven years in the service. After he graduates, with his degree in ocean and coastal studies, he plans to open a bee business.