TEXARKANA, Texas -- Bees often need a helping hand to stay buzzing through the summer, according to a pair of local beekeepers.
"This time of year they're starved out because they used all of their honey stores and there's nothing being produced," said Robbie Robinson of Bowie Bee Apiary. "Beekeepers will often have to feed their bees a supplement in place of the nectar they typically get from plants."
Robinson co-operates the apiary with Sarah Clinesmith. The pair met 12 years ago, discovered a mutual interest in the striped pollinators and began going to local outdoor clubs.
According to Robinson, bees pollinate roughly a third of the food humans eat, but their impact is far-reaching.
"The honey, the venom from the stings, the propolis (a secretion from bees with a glue-like texture) is used in research for treatments for breast cancer, prostate cancer and all kinds of things," Robinson said.
Robinson said the lack of hollow trees for bees to live in forces the insects to relocate to residential homes, bringing them into close contact with humans.
"If people leave bees alone, they will leave you alone," he said.
Clinesmith said a simple way for nonbeekeepers to help the bee population is to provide plants for the bees to feed on.
"There are certain plants that pollinators like," Clinsemith said. "In the spring when flowers start to bloom, we beekeepers have a thing we call 'no mow May' where we don't mow our yard because that's when bees are really active. As long as there's flowers in your yard, you're helping feed the bees."