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Honeybees are at risk nationwide. Learn more about the value of honeybees to our everyday lives and what we can do to help preserve these precious pollinators. (All audiences)
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©2012 Rodale Institute
Share the Buzz
Coach Mark SmallwoodExecutive Director, Rodale Institute
©2012 Rodale Institute
There is no AWAY.
Coach Mark Smallwood
©2012 Rodale Institute
Honeybee Facts
Bees are the only insects that produce food eaten by humans.
Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water.
The average American eats about one pound of honey a year.
To make one pound of honey, worker bees have to fly 55,000 miles and tap two million flowers.
The honeybee's wings make about 200 beats per second, creating their infamous buzzing.
©2012 Rodale Institute
Cougle’s delivers
Precious Pollinators
More than 70 of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world's food are pollinated by bees.
U.S. honeybees’ economic contribution has valued at nearly $15 billion.
Blueberries and cherries are 90-percent dependent on honeybee pollination.
Almonds depend entirely on the honeybee for pollination.
©2012 Rodale Institute
Precious Pollinators
Disappearing Colonies
The number of honeybee colonies in the U.S. has been steadily declining for the last seventy years.
1940s7.5 million colonies
Today2.5 million colonies
Photo © Colorado State University
©2012 Rodale Institute
Precious Pollinators
250,000,000,000
250 billion fewer honeybees today than in the 1940s
©2012 Rodale Institute
Prior to 2006…
In 2006, beekeepers began reporting unexplained losses of 30 to 90%of their hives.
Since then, winter colony losses have hovered around 30% each year.
This is three times more than what beekeepers consider “acceptable” winter losses.
Buzz Kill
CCD = Colony Collapse Disorder
(USDA ARS statistics)
©2012 Rodale Institute
Buzz Kill
The Usual Suspects
Pesticides
Pathogens
Parasites
Migratory life
Monoculture
GMOs
UFOs(unidentified pest or disease)
©2012 Rodale Institute
Buzz Kill
Researchers are no closer to identifying a definite cause,
much less a solution.
©2012 Rodale Institute
A Sweet Solution
The Honeybee Conservancy at Rodale Institute was started in 2012 in response to the major health problems that have
decimated the honeybee population in North America.
We believe that individual honeybee stewardsare one of the solutions to this problem.
©2012 Rodale Institute
A Sweet Solution
Classes in sustainable beekeeping practices Locally-bred bees from a very calm Italian line Hive hosting on our 333-acre organic farm Support for beginners through the network
©2012 Rodale Institute
A Sweet Solution
Award-winning instructor
Meme Thomas
Director of Baltimore Honey, is a member of the AFB-American Federation of Beekeepers, EAS-Eastern Apiculture Society, BUMBA Bowie Upper Marlboro Beekeepers Association, and HCBA - Howard County Beekeepers Association. Meme received the Maryland State Beekeepers Association 2010 George Imirie Award for excellence in beekeeping education.
©2012 Rodale Institute
A Sweet Solution
Humane Hive
Participants in our program receive a unique hive that class instructor Meme Thomas developed: Thomas Hybrid Hive (TH2). This hive is a combination of a top bar hive and the traditional Langstroth hive, proving a great habitat for the bees and easy access for honeybee stewards.
©2012 Rodale Institute
A Sweet Solution
Best for the Bees
Clean, natural comb
No smoke
No toxic chemicals
Preservation -vs- production
©2012 Rodale Institute
A Sweet Solution
Sharing a sip of water
Providing easily- accessible, clean,
fresh water at all times is essential to keeping
honeybees healthy.
©2012 Rodale Institute
A Sweet Solution
Males -vs- Females
The larger bee in the center is one of the
few male members of the colony. Male
drones have a larger body and squared-off rear-end. They have no stinger and their only job is to mate
with a queen. In the fall, they are kicked
out of the hive.
©2012 Rodale Institute
A Sweet Solution
Bowing to the Queen
The worker bees welcome the queen back to the hive following her
mating flight.
©2012 Rodale Institute
“Historical Native Americans, still clairvoyant, ‘saw’ that spiritual entity that governs the animal’s life instincts with complete wisdom. They called this spiritual being the ‘Great Bear’ or ‘Great Buffalo.’ We would suggest that when the ‘Great Bee’ experiences all these destructive forces, she withdraws from the physical entity. When the spiritual center of the colony is thus weakened, the individual bee flies out and does not come back…The Great Bee, which might also be called the group soul, cannot maintain the integrity of the colony.”
~ Gunther Hauk
©2012 Rodale Institute
What is our sacrifice?
©2012 Rodale Institute
Share the Buzz…
Rodale InstituteHoneybee Conservancy
The sweet rewards of humane hive-stewardship.
www.rodaleinstitute.org/honeybee-conservancy