For the first time since he moved to the North Olympic Peninsula three decades ago, a strange silence will surround Dave Myhre’s home.
The hobbyist beekeeper no longer has bees in his 10 hives.
Sometime between the time they were tucked quietly away in their hives for the winter, and a nice day in January when he checked on them, the bees vanished.
“It will be really strange this spring not to have the bees around,” the Port Ludlow-area resident said.
Myhre, who said he is awaiting the delivery of some new bees, said he believes the problem is linked to a strain of the fungus — nosema ceranae.
The arrival of the fungus in the North Olympic Peninsula, which had largely escaped the inexplicable Colony Collapse Disorder that has decimated hives in other parts of the country, has hurt several beekeepers.
The strain of fungus seen in the hives grows best in cold, rainy winters.
Unlike some of the other strains, the pathogen doesn’t have as many obvious symptoms leading up to the death of the bees.
Usually the bees will die near the hives, but Myhre believes his died when they left the hive for food.
“There was about 100 that were dead in the nests, but all the rest had vanished.”
