As the weather gets warmer, the bees that were shipped off to California to pollinate almond trees for the winter should start making their journey back... via truck

But gas prices are going to be a hurdle for keepers maneuvering the bee transfer.

Inflation and supply shortages are other hoops beekeepers are forced to maneuver.

H.R. Cook is one of the people that picked up beekeeping as a pandemic hobby. He tells KCRG that supplies, such as plastic bear containers, have become harder to get.

“Which are made in China, they have to be shipped from China,” he said, “there are millions of these honey bears sitting over on a cargo ship, to glass jars that we put the honey in and we sell at the farmer's markets.”

And Cook isn’t alone. Phylicia Chandler, a beekeeper, and member of Dubuque Swiss Valley Bee Club told KCRG that other beekeepers have been struggling to find hive equipment and extractors.

These, she says, are very important when you’re a beekeeper.

“When we need something, we need it now,” she said. “And it can be a matter of if you are catching a swarm and you do not have what you need, then you have nowhere to put those bees if you do not have that extra hive.”

One positive thing that has come from the situation is it has bonded many of the Eastern Iowa beekeepers in support of each other.

“Beekeepers work together, so if they are ever in need, we call on other beekeepers to help us out,” she added.

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