How has Arizona's wet winter impacted the honey bees?

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MESA, Ariz. - Arizona's wet winter may have been a bittersweet one for the honey bee population, according to an Arizona State University researcher.

Adrian Fisher studies bee activity at the Bee Lab Annex near ASU's Polytechnic campus. They study one hive indoors under video surveillance.

"It allows us to see how they allocate resources, and we can monitor the queen's activity," Fisher said. "They do have entry and exit port to the outside world, so they can still go out and collect food resources and bring it back inside."

After a winter and early spring of low temperatures and seemingly constant rain, Fisher says it has likely lowered the bee population in the state.

"In the moment, heavy rain and weather events can prevent foraging and prevent them from going out and collecting food resources, and particularly during winter and early spring is when they're ramping up their population," Fisher said.

But now that wildflowers have spread across the Grand Canyon State, the food benefits will keep the honey bees busy.

"More diverse resources available to them and…catch up to any early season delays," Fisher said.

ASU researchers are continuing to study how wet seasons and hot summers will impact our bees. 

Outside, some colonies are placed in the harsh sunshine. Others get to live a life of luxury in the shade and under a mister.

"This time of year there's a lot of nectar flow," Fisher said.

The bee population is healthy, and Fisher says more flowers can only help the hive.

Honey bees aren't native to Arizona, so there is no set target for how large the population should be, according to the researcher. But thanks to Arizona recent wildflower blooms, the low population numbers this winter are predicted to bounce back to normal in the summer.