To Bee or Not to Bee?
I heard about Rob the Beekeeper at lunch last week. Actually, overheard. But, I inserted myself into my neighbor’s conversation and extracted info about a honeybee enthusiast who manages residential hives. So, Rob the Beekeeper paid a visit to our busy corner of Atlanta and found a suitable site for a soon-to-bee colony tucked under the magnolias and crepe myrtles. In 48 hours Rob will arrive with our busy new residents, and I can’t wait.
Why?
Because not only are they fascinating purveyors of really local honey, but also they’re the foundation of our food system. And they’re in trouble. One-third of food crops rely on insect pollination, but honeybee populations in North America have declined by a dramatic 70 percent since a mysterious “colony collapse disorder” (CCD) surfaced
in 2006. CCD is a deadly combination of environmental/man-made factors.
in 2006. CCD is a deadly combination of environmental/man-made factors.
Meanwhile, our modern diets demand an increasing year-round supply of all-season fruits and veggies. Ninety different farm-grown foods, particularly fruits and nuts, depend on honeybees. This means bee pollination and beekeeping, once a function of nature and hobbyists, has become a major commercial industry. Today’s beekeepers are mostly large-scale pollination services with thousands of hives and millions of bees, a $15 billion business at risk.
Becoming a backyard beekeeper is one way individuals can take action to combat CCD and strengthen the bee gene pool by adding healthy local bees to the mix, as illustrated by a PBS Nature Episode. “Large or small, any effort you make to help bees or increase awareness is a step towards healthy bees, healthy crops, and, consequently, healthy humans.”
Learn more from the Backyard Beekeepers Association or the American Beekeeping Federation.
