CHASING BEES
A Brief Word Editorial
M
y life has been full of unexpected twists and turns. I never suspected I would launch a new magazine, but here I am, taking a big, giant leap. It’s been a tumultuous and amazing year,
full of wonderful new connections, huge outpourings of support, and generosity beyond my wildest imagination. To all of you who encouraged me to move from an idea scrib- bled on a white board to the magazine you’re holding in your hands right now, my sincere thanks. Why launch a magazine dedicated to all pollinators? Two decades into the new millennium, it has become clear that our world is warming, our weather is more erratic, and the insect biodiversity that makes up the foundation of our food chain is disappearing. We’re in the Anthropocene, a time when human impacts have shifted the course of nature, changed ecosystems and the earth’s geology. Some see these as dire times, with little hope for the fu-
ture, as illustrated by the swelling tide lifting Greta Thunberg up as the voice of a global movement. Others believe we still have time to act. In the age of the Anthropocene the emphasis is on us.
And we, as a species, have an amazing ability to adapt. I’ve always considered myself a realistic optimist with a bent to- ward practicality. This leaves me hopeful, as I want to leave my little corner of the earth a little better than when I was born – perhaps this mindset comes from my childhood, as I shared my birthday with Earth Day. Each year we would trek into the woods behind our home, armed with large garbage bags. We would scatter in among the trees and shrubs, pick-
ing up discarded trash. As an enterprising species, we’re very clever at thinking up solutions. Yes, perhaps we procrasti- nate, pushing things off to a future date. But when deadlines loom, we’re pretty darn good at getting things done. I came into science through the back door of beekeep-
ing. There is something about the entrepreneurial spirit of beekeepers and their inventiveness that inspires. I love how they share ideas and swap stories, how they come together, yet argue over obscure terms and tools. If individuals of po- that doles out stings, I think we have time to intervene, im- plement change, and help other species continue to survive. Honey bees, Apis mellifera, are not native to the United
States. But as a scientist recently joked to me, they are the hardworking immigrants, doing the thankless agricultural jobs no one else wants to do. Many native bee enthusiasts are not keen on these “pollen pigs” as a colony of 50,000 individual foragers can hoard precious food resources when habitat shrinks. Just as pesticides will not disappear from our monocul-
- system services of our imported honey bees. While each in- dividual honey bee may not be the best pollinator, they make up for it with colony size. Hives are transportable and can easily be moved into the vast majority of large scale crops that require pollination. It’s harder to scale up with native bees, and do we really want to? Do we want to turn our sol- itary bees into agricultural workhorses, raised in vast quanti- ties with greater risk of disease?
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