South KC honey sales begin despite varroa mites plaguing bee population

by Tony Madden

Belton beekeeper Marty Hansen is back selling honey as the fight against pests continues. For about 45 years, long before “varroa mite” became a common term in his community, the Midwestern Beekeepers Association member has managed hives and sold honey just south of Belton as Hansen Honey Farms.

“I do enjoy it,” Hansen said. “Sometimes, I wish I did a little more of it.”

Globally, beekeepers and feral bee populations are facing problems. The foremost issue is bee colony loss caused primarily by varroa mites. Missouri and Kansas beekeepers who participated in the annual Apiary Inspectors of America survey reported nearly 50% colony loss between 2024 and 2025. The total percentage of colony loss across the United States was even higher: 55%.

A world without bees means a world with less food, Hansen said. Honeybees contribute more than $15 billion to the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hansen and Bob Williams, a fellow member of the Midwestern Beekeepers Association, agreed that communities like Kansas City could lose a third of their food supply without pollination from honeybees.

Hansen called varroa mites the “number one enemy” beekeepers face today. The mites attach to bees and feed on their hemolymph (their equivalent to blood), which weakens the insects and their colonies, according to a study from the University of Missouri in Columbia.

One varroa mite is about the size of a poppy seed, but they are large enough to wreak havoc on bees. For size comparison, Hansen said a bee with a mite latched to it was akin to a human with a football-sized tick. 

“People don’t realize how big they are relative to the bee,” Hansen said.

The effects are devastating to a hive. A weak colony will raise fewer bees and store less honey for winter (when the majority of colony loss occurs), the study says. Varroa mites also spread a number of viruses to bees, including deformed wing virus. The open wound left by the mite leaves the insect even more vulnerable to disease.

Hansen said he remembers when varroa mites arrived in Florida in 1987, then in south Kansas City by early 1991. He remembers at first, beekeepers didn’t understand what was going on. It wasn’t just that bees were dying; entire colonies were getting weaker from disease and population decrease. Then, he heard about varroa mites.

The mites were thought to have arrived through illegal imports of beehives from South America in the 1980s, according to the American Bee Journal. Mites spread from beekeeper to beekeeper through movement of hives through the 1990s. By 1995, varroa mites were detected everywhere in the continental United States.

“The question is not whether beekeepers have varroa mites in their colonies. They all have varroa mites,” said Dr. Nathalie Steinhauer, a research associate with the Honey Bee Lab at Oregon State University who helped author the 2024-25 survey.

A number of options are available for varroa mite mitigation, Steinhauer said. She recommends reviewing the Varroa Management Decision Tool on the Honeybee Health Coalition website to make the right choice.

Hansen said although human impact is not the number one challenge bee populations face, pesticide sprays can also weaken or wipe out both feral and managed hives. Various herbicides and pesticides on the market — notably those containing neonicotinoids, Hansen said — are harmful to bees. That’s why people should pay attention to what they spray on crops and gardens.

People should also pay attention to the time of day they spray plants, said Williams. If plants are sprayed in the evening, they will likely be dry by morning and have less of an impact on bees.

South Kansas Citians interested in beekeeping can attend the Midwestern Beekeepers Association’s 31st Annual Beginning Beekeeping Workshop from 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 7,  in the community room at University Health Lakewood Medical Center on Lee’s Summit Road. The complete course includes a class, handbook, one-year membership and a monthly newsletter. Food and breaks will be provided.