Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
A natural beekeeper I know who adheres to all the latest trends in chemical-free beekeeping lost 40 of his 48 hives in 2017. And according to the state apiarist, up to 80 percent of Tennessee’s honeybee colonies died in the 2016-2017 period. As Mr. Salatin would say, “Folks, this ain’t normal.”
With honeybee populations on the decline, scientists, lawyers, and even artists have set out to save humanity’s most important pollinators.
The problem of Colony Collapse Disorder is a symptom of transient pollinators-for-hire who are forced to live in giant bee slums and to survive on diets of junk food.
If you like almonds, then 2013 brought some bad news. Each year, honeybees from across the country make the trek to California, which grows 80 percent of the world’s almonds, to pollinate the almond crop. But bees have been dying in unusually large numbers for several years now, and this year appears worse than most.
•Bee business picking up in Berlin •Yard times: Denver’s super-local veggie box •Double dose of pesticide poses new danger for bumblebees •Did California Voters Defeat the Food Movement Along With Prop. 37?
