Honey bees help pollinate 1 in every 3 bites that we eat….They are vital in our agricultural industry and essential for the survival of the almost 7 billion people who inhabit this planet. And, as the world’s population continues to grow so does our reliance on honey bees. But most pollinating insects throughout the world are endangered today. Including the honey bee. On this edition, honey bees fight to survive amidst a rapidly changing landscape filled with pesticides and parasites. We’ll learn the latest about colony collapse disorder and hear from beekeepers, researchers and gardeners who are trying to protect them.

Special thanks to the producers of Vanishing of The Bees.

Featuring: Hannah Nordhaus, author of the Beekeepers Lament- How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed the World; Gretchen Lebuhn, San Francisco State University Professor & Founder of The Great Sunflower Project; John Miller, migratory beekeeper; Brian Johnson, University of California, Davis’s Entomology Professor; Bill Rhodes, David Hackenberg, beekeepers; Dee Lusby, Organic Beekeeping discussion group founder; Dennis Van Engelsdorp,  Penn State University Entomology scientist; Vince Rosato, Great Sunflower project participant; Khaled Almaghafi, beekeeper & Bee Healthy Honey Shop owner.

For More Information:

Vanishing of the Bees

http://www.vanishingbees.com/

The Beekeeper’s Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Beekeepers-Lament-Hannah-Nordhaus/?isbn=9780061873256

XERCES Society 

http://www.xerces.org/

Bee Healthy Honey Shop

http://beehealthyhoneyshop.com/

Harry Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California at Davis

http://beebiology.ucdavis.edu/HONEYBEES/index.html

The Great Sunflower Project

http://www.greatsunflower.org/

Organic Beekeeping Society

http://thehealingpath.com/OrganicBeekeeping/OBS/OrganicBeekeepingSociety.shtml

Attracting Native Pollinators

http://www.xerces.org/announcing-the-publication-of-attracting-native-pollinators/

Hannah Nordhaus

http://www.hannahnordhaus.com/

Gretchen Lebuhn

http://biology.sfsu.edu/people/gretchen-lebuhn

Dee Lusby

http://www.beesource.com/point-of-view/ed-dee-lusby/

Articles, Blogs, Reports and Videos:

EU bans GM-contaminated honey from general sale

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/07/europe-honey-gm

Globalisation and agriculture industry exacerbating bee decline, says UN

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/10/globalisation-agriculture-industry-exacerbating-bee-decline

As bee colonies die, beekeepers face challenge finding replacements

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home_garden/as-bee-colonies-die-beekeepers-face-challengefinding-replacements/2011/05/26/AG66BLGH_story.html

Asian Honey, Banned in Europe, Is Flooding U.S. Grocery Shelves

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/08/honey-laundering/

A STICKY BUSINESS: Dakota’s Busy Beekeepers 

http://www.ndhorizons.com/horizons/featured/index.asp?ID=30

The Almond and the Bee

http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-10-14/living/17265958_1_california-almonds-almond-growers-almond-trees/10

As honeybees decline, beekeeping booms By Candace Krebs

http://www.agjournalonline.com/news/x219196788/As-honeybees-decline-beekeeping-booms

Forget climate change – the bees are buzzing off

http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2008/08/14/forget-climate-change-the-bees-are-buzzing-off/

How sweet it is-The economics of beekeeping in Oakland

http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-06-02/news/17118156_1_bee-colonies-bee-healthy-honey-beekeeper/

The Silence of the Bees

http://www.hcn.org/issues/342/16891

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