MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, beekeeping organizations are still working to restore pollinator populations that were wiped out when the storm stripped away vegetation and food sources.

The Mecklenburg County Beekeepers Association has helped replace nearly 1,000 bee colonies across the region, according to Michael Entrekin, the organization's vice president.

"Not just the honeybees, but the bumble bees and all the pollinators were lost," Entrekin said. "There wasn't anything left for them to forage. The trees, the vegetation - it was all stripped away."

Each colony can represent up to 80,000 bees when fully established, meaning the total loss reached tens of millions of bees across the storm-affected region. The financ

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