I’ll bet you didn’t know that one third of the food crops grown in the US–the world’s largest food supplier–need to be pollinated by bees. Well, I didn’t know the exact number either, but I did know how important bees are to the food system, and I’ve been following the controversy caused by the alarming disappearance of bees the world over for quite some time–in part due to my interest in world food systems and sustainable agriculture…but also because my next door neighbor, Lonnie Compeau, is a beekeeper.
A recent headline in the Telegraph (also linked to above) reads “Food prices threatened by silence of the bees.” According to testimony in Congress:
In the US, bee pollination is estimated to be responsible for $15 billion (£7.5 billion) each year of crop value. Apples, strawberries, almonds and onions are among the varied produce that rely on the insects.
However, since 2006, beekeepers have been reporting drastic and unexplained reductions in bee numbers.
This year, colony collapse disorder (CCD) saw numbers fall by 36 per cent - a five per cent increase on 2007 – with some beekeepers losing 90 per cent of their bees.
Lonnie experienced the same “silence of the bees” at his own hives, losing at least half, if not more like 70 percent of the population that used to call his hives home.
Lonnie is a great neighbor. Whenever the sun is shining, you’re bound to find him sitting on his porch with neighbors, or chatting to the passers-by about the weather, about politics, or about interesting things he’s seen or heard around the neighborhood. Now retired, he’s been keeping bees for I think at least 20 years. The hives are in nearby Manchester, and every so often Lonnie brings the combs home to process into honey in his kitchen. He then sells the honey (spring wildflower, fall wildflower, raw, or beeswax) right off of his front porch. Lonnie sells the honey on the honor system, and his prices are less expensive than what you will pay in a store–and the honey is much more delicious. That’s Lonnie on his front porch, taking off his beekeeping suit.
This is a picture of an active hive. Each of these boxes hold several honeycombs–or, I should say, what will be honeycombs once the bees create them. The boxes are then stacked, and little holes like the one you see here are created so the bees can get in and out. Walking home about a week or so ago, I was surprised to see Lonnie in his driveway in his beekeeper suit, working away at cleaning out an old hive. Seems a colony of bees had moved into the old hive and were setting up shop, so Lonnie figured he should clean their new home and make sure they’d be able to live and make honey.
He had taken the inactive hives home from Manchester to eventually clean them out, and left them stacked next to his house like this. The silver canister-like object in the picture is used to blow smoke at the bees to keep them calm while working with them. Bees are apparently easily stressed out; according to Lonnie, he could not just take the hive with the bees in it back to Manchester, as most would not survive the trip. They don’t like to be moved. I think this has something to do with the fact that you can’t just farm and ship bees into an area to make up for those that are disappearing.
I’d never seen anyone in real life in a beekeeper’s suit before, and it was pretty strange to see someone calmly working away in their driveway while hundreds of bees buzzed around his head. (Especially since I was accompanied by one whose name will not be mentioned who absolutely freaks out when a single bee flies in the vicinity. Ahem. That person didn’t stick around to watch!) But it was fascinating. I had to get a closer look.
Lonnie gave me a brief overview of how the hives work while I took some pictures. Here he is giving me a close-up of one of the combs. This was actually already in the frame when these bees moved in, and to be honest I can’t remember how he decided which needed to be scrapped and which were okay to keep, although I think it’s best if they start from scratch. Lonnie also showed me where the queen was, how the bees make a new queen, and made sure that there was only one in each of the two hives he now has at the side of his house.
Lonnie believes that man-made pesticides (he referred to “nicotides” but I can’t find information about them on the internet) are responsible for the disappearance of the bees, and he doesn’t have much faith that a solution will be found, or that the chemical companies that make these nicotides will stop using them because of the impact on bees (not when they are making a profit, anyway). Sigh. There have been other theories, such as cellphone towers that interfere with the ability of bees to find their way home, but as far as I know scientists have not singled anything out.
As a final thought, I’d encourage people to find out more, and to support your local beekeepers. Lonnie’s porch is always open to those of you who live in and around Ann Arbor, and I’m sure he’d like to meet you. Not only is honey delicious, but local honey is good for fighting allergies. My friend Michael tells me that if you have allergies, you need local honey from a range of 3 to 5 miles from your home. Looks like I’m set this year, with all these honey-makers moving in right next door…
Alas…these two pictures, my favorites, did not make the cut for the book. I had hoped they’d make the bios page. Anyway, Max and Eli will be doing a number of parties and events surrounding the release of the book in August, so you should make sure to check the website regularly.
