Last winter, commercial beekeepers lost more than 60% of their colonies – their worst losses on record. We tend to blame bee losses on separate, singular threats: pests, pesticides, habitat loss or extreme weather. But we’ve been thinking about bee losses wrong. The real culprit is our industrial food system. Managed honeybees are in effect […]
Tag: beekeeping
Farmers Use Bees to Deter Elephants from Romping Over Crops–a Win-Win for All
In Kenya, on the edge of the legendary Tsavo National Park, African honey bees contentedly buzz about near rows of well-tended crops. It’s a scene that’s becoming more common in these rural areas and is driven by an extreme need: to deter elephants from encroaching on farmlands, eating crops, and destroying homes. “The beehive fences […]
The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees | Book Review
Every year, somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of all worker honeybees disappear from their hives, never to be seen again, leaving their developing young to die and their queens untended. This disturbing phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), was first identified in the United States, but it is happening all around the world. […]
Bee on Fire
This bee is on fire, making one last attempt to change a breeze’s direction, castaway seeds struggling to keep up. • Honey bee | Apis mellifera
Memories of Summer
The pull of a daisy strands a honey bee in orbit, wings reflecting memories of summer. Honey bee | Apis mellifera
Kingdom of Green
An intoxicated bee senses the garden’s undercurrents, trespasser in a kingdom of green towers. • Honey bee | Apis mellifera
Wandering Star
A wandering star behind a red veil, leading a traveler through a labyrinth of pollination – Honey bee | Apis mellifera
Erotic Light
Phantom pollinators from a parallel universe of erotic light disappear into the heat of the sun. • Honey bee | Apis mellifera