Due to having some vacation time (where I’ve been totally unproductive), I’ve caught up on some movies, documentaries, and Bee DVDs that I’ve been wanting to watch.
We just watched “More Than Honey” – Imhoof, and there are some things there that are interesting, and disturbing.
Disturbing (for example) is the displayed mindset of the South Dakota migratory beekeeper, who is in the California almond grove; he’s dangerously misguided, and confuses his selfishness and greed with capitalism; there is a difference between being a capitalist, and being a bad person.
Disturbing also is the plight of the honey bee here in the US. We have lost our minds in this situation, and the USDA, and the almond growers are not solving this issue effectively (but have probably a very large impact in having created it).
I know this problem with our bees (disease, shorter queen life, diversity, etc.) is multifaceted; however, this concept of mono-farming mixed with mega-farming is just a thread away from turning catastrophic with regards to our food supply and our pollinators; it’s not a sustainable cycle, and it will break. The question is not if it will break, but when it will break. Shipping bees from all over the country to California for the almond crop is not natural and is having negative effects on our entire honey bee population; it helps to spread disease (it is certainly not helping to contain disease), and does not scale. The almond growers need to develop their land in ways that enable sustainable farming; same with apples and other crops.
After watching that video, here’s where my thoughts go:
- I am boycotting almonds; I won’t support them until the almond growers become more responsible.
- I will greatly resist treating my bees with chemicals; though it might seem that we would “help” them, it really makes them more dependent, and weaker (not stronger).
- I will not EVER put my bees on a truck and haul them to a farm that uses pesticides, fungicides, etc.
- If I ever put bees on a truck and haul them to a farm, it will be to permanently place them there, to help the farmer sustain.
I will probably never be that guy who puts his bees on a truck and hauls them to a farm for pollination; it’s just not my thing.
I think I’m turning into a “tree-hugging hippie”… 🙁