Within days of the 2017 hurricane in Puerto Rico, a unique set of relief flights started landing on the island.
On board: emergency bee protein.
Hurricanes Maria and Irma devastated the Caribbean in a number of ways, including major bee colony losses. This type of loss is especially distressing when compounded with an ongoing decline in the honeybee population.
According to the National Honey Board, one-third of the U.S. diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants and honey bees are responsible for 80 percent of that process.
Hence, the emergency relief efforts. Following the storms, The Pollinator Partnership and its 17 partner organizations, including the National Honey Board, set a goal to raise $50,000, which would go toward the delivery of supplemental protein for 3,000 hives as well as the delivery of 1,000 replacement hives.
The efforts appear to have helped. Bee Culture magazine reported that beekeepers in Puerto Rico were able to share bee protein supplies with beekeepers on the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominica, Barbuda, and other nearby islands.
There were also enough funds to help pay the costs for volunteers to capture honeybee swarms and escaped colonies. With the protein needs being met and the floral landscape beginning to recover, efforts then shifted to providing bee hives to island beekeepers.
