©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co. |Thank a Honeybee for Jack-O-
Lanterns, Pumpkin Pie |Those pumpkins for Halloween jack-o-
lanterns or for Thanksgiving pumpkin pie were probably made
possible by domestic honeybees. With smaller wild honeybee
populations because of pests and disease, Illinois fruit and
vegetable growers are relying more on beekeepers to pollinate
crops. Steve Chard, apiary inspection supervisor at the Illinois
Department of Agriculture, says demand for honeybees keeps
growing. "In Illinois, they're primarily in Northern,
Northeastern Illinois, but they actually custom pollinate crops,
melons, pumpkins, apples, strawberries and the like," he says.
But those beekeepers are in danger of losing their honeybees to
something called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. It hasn't
been found in Illinois yet, but bee colony inspectors check
every colony for signs of it. If it does show up, Chard says
there's nothing anyone can do because researchers don't know
what causes it. "If CCD entered Illinois, and it