SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - Farmers across Delaware are looking forward to warmer temperatures after the cold brought different challenges.
Delaware farmers experienced snow, a coastal storm, and extreme winds with freezing temperatures in consecutive weekends, bringing unique challenges to those who have critters of all kinds.
Patrick Carey owns Carey Apiary and Farm in Frankford and says this winter has surprised him in all the wrong ways.
"I can't really remember a winter this intense," said Carey. "So unfortunately, I did lose one colony last weekend. It was a smaller colony, and they froze to death."
Carey says losing a colony of bees results in a domino effect, as pollination for his orchard, where he has planted peach, apple, and blueberry trees and bushes, is now affected.
Farms in Delaware with critters of all kinds experienced unique stressors as a result from the freezing temperatures.Â
Fortunately for the trees, Carey notes that it is good for them to see some cold throughout the year.
"It's not only sad and depressing to lose a bee colony, but they there is a value behind that of bee colonies, worth about $250 worth the potential of making 40 pounds of honey. So you're looking at losing something that's worth a couple thousand dollars," Carey tells CoastTV.
Down the road in Millsboro at the Rieley Brothers Farm, where they handle livestock, they say they had no major losses, but shared the same fear of losing their beloved critters.
"It's stressful," says Lou Ann Rieley, who is an owner of the farm. "When calves are born, they need to be up and moving. So when they're cold, if they don't get up and move, that is very stressful and even deadly on them, so that cold can actually kill them if they're not up and moving."
Rieley stated that cattle are bred to be outside, and she often times has to remind herself of that during storms.
"We stress and are looking out here and, you know, they're just chilling, and they're just eating and, you know, it affects me worrying about them a lot more than it affects them," says Rieley.
Both farmers are greatly looking forward to the much warmer weather expected to land in Delaware next week.Â