The mayor of London, England wants YOU to be a beekeeper. Appropriately named “The Capital Bee Campaign”, the ongoing media blitz is working to raise awareness in the UK of the worrisome problem of disappearing honeybees and Colony Collapse Disorder.Â
75 new beekeepers are already in training at sites around the city and the goal is to have 2012 food growing spaces metro wide by the 2012 Olympic Games to be hosted in London. Well over 2000 hives have been registered already, but a third of these were lost during the extremely cold winter of 2009-10 due to Colony Collapse Disorder.
While I applaud the well meaning campaign, it seems to be a bit off the mark, ok – A LOT off the mark, at least to me.
Colony Collapse Disorder really has nothing to do with ordinary citizens shirking their beekeeping responsibilities (if there is such a thing) or not being aware of the honeybee’s plight.
Pesticides and possibly the dangers of cell phone towers are the most likely culprits behind the devastating drop in the honeybee population in recent years, not a lack of beekeepers. This is discussed in detail in the post EPA Knowingly Allowed Bee Killing Pesticide.
What’s more, The Capital Bee Campaign fails to encourage citizens training to become beekeepers to do so as organically as possible given that organic beehives do not seem to be plagued with Colony Collapse Disorder in the same way as conventionally maintained hives.
Below is the 30 second public service announcement put out by The Capital Bee Campaign. I was dumbfounded by the action steps listed at the end. Take a look:
Can you believe those four action steps at the end?
Grow Your Own Food!
Buy Bee Friendly Food!
Plant Bee Friendly Plants!
Here’s my favorite that really made me chuckle:
Garden responsibly!
How about banning the bee killing pesticide clothianidin like France, Italy, Slovenia, and Germany have already done? How about encouraging organic beekeeping and getting the facts about the probable reasons for Colony Collapse Disorder out to the public so that pressure can be brought to bear on the government regulatory agencies that are permitting the use of bee killing chemicals and practices?
Now there are some action steps that actually will help honeybees rather than skirting the issue in favor of cutesy public service announcements and a politically correct push for the greening of London in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: Capital Bee
what a bunch o nonsense. Bees are dying at record rates because governments and regular folks STILL use pesticides on their flowers and vegetables. Even toamato dust is deadly to bees. * shuts up* No one needs my organic gardenign rants.. but this is a stupid idea. Cant have bees without first having safe food sources for them
I’m in England and have never even heard of this ‘campaign’! Im just outside of London and the inspiring beekeepers that I know around me, strive to do so in the most environmentally friendly way as possible. Most of the classes that I have heard of have been encouraged from the permaculture association. I wonder who these ads are reaching?
Great article Sarah but you have a poor WOT rating. Check it out here: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/thehealthyhomeeconomist.com I never touch sites with a poor rating but I know you have good content. There is something wrong with your sites safety, I would look into it.
Someone has emailed me about this before. I’ve heard this WOT thing is kind of bogus .. lots of spam type sites getting high ratings etc with legit sites getting ranked low. I don’t expect to ever get a decent rating anyway with the way I frequently lambast the pro-vax folks on this blog. What I have to say is way too anti-establishment.
errrr-we see examples of this all the time…feel-good good-deeding not accomplishing anything other than satifying naive do-gooders’ need to feel good.
In the United States, bees are one of the over 30 species of animals that are to be registered with the government under the animal ID scheme so the bees and your property will be under the government’s control (thus losing your private property rights under the Constitution). The animal ID scheme was strongly resisted nationwide so the government changed tactics, announcing that the animal Id program was “dead” while at the same time embedding it in the “food safety/modernization” bill – which was then rammed through the lame duck session last fall while the “Dream Act” bill was a smoke screen for it. We now have the animal Id whether we like it or not. We have friends with over 200 hives. They told us three years ago that they learned not to put their hives in fields with GMO crops because the bees STARVED to death. They said it was the strangest thing to see a field full of blooms and bees starving. In the 1800’s, in our state of Arkansas, bee trees were so common that honey wasn’t valuable at all. We have plenty of trees still here – but not bee trees. We have to wonder why. Pesticide use possibly affecting even huge state forests? My husband used to be a bee keeper so we know what it’s like to deal with hives and bees.
I simply do not understand why beekeepers are so resistant to adopting organic bee practices in the interest of significantly reducing their chances of losing their hives to Colony Collapse Disorder. I guess it’s just like anything – saturated fat being actually good for you, cholesterol not being the villain it is portrayed in the media, vaccinations, whatever – folks don’t like to admit that what they’ve been doing for years is in fact wrong and that they might need to reevaluate and change course.
Sarah, I think it’s because people don’t want to believe that their government would not only lie to them but do things that they KNOWINGLY know are hurting – even killing – their own citizens. And we are trained from grade school on up, that if the government says it, it has to be right. Never question the government’s intent for our good. Well, the Founding Fathers had strong words about us ever trusting the government! I had my state representative ask me once if I was saying that the government was lying to us. I had to reply – If the shoe fits….
We were fighting the animal ID scheme in our state and my rep didn’t believe me to begin with – but before the year was up, he was firmly on our side and stayed there. He found out the hard way that, yes, your own government will happily stab you in the back if you get in its way. I’m not in the same political party he’s in, either.
Great article, Sarah. I have just started beekeeping and am doing it in a biodynamic way which is letting them do their thing with as little intervention as possible. Check out biodynamic practices and farming started by the philospher Rudolph Steiner. He is also the founder of Waldorf Education. He predicted this colony collapse syndrome around 100 years ago! And if you get a chance, see the movie “Queen of the Sun”.
Sarah, I love the very rare and very special way you push the envelope!
Thanks for sharing that story. I am an organic Top Bar hive beekkeeper and I argue all the time with my standard hive beekkeeping friends about why I stay organic, letting the bees “do what they do” naturally. They argue about mites, diseases, and yes, CCD. They don’t really believe that I just don’t have those problems. And they don’t believe what the true cause of CCD is. I agree with the above comment. As long as big chemical businesses are in charge, bees will remain in danger. I feel that I at least give my own bees a “leg-up” by keeping things as natural and organic as possible for them…in so far as I have that control.
I want to try top bar beekeeping. We are 2nd year beekeepers (with standard hives) and I’ve been amazed at the push from the beekeeping associations to use chemical treatments for the bees. Our hives are healthy, they have never been treated with chemicals, our bees have never been fed corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup. I’m always amazed when we have bee field days where we inspect the association hives with experienced beekeepers and they are pointing out the things we need to watch for… I’ve seen American Foul brood, chalkbrood, and deformed wing syndrome… for all their big push for using chemical treatments their hives leave a lot to be desired when it comes to healthy hives.
Susie, Where can I learn more about top bar beekeeping? There is no one in my area that I’m aware of beekeeping with top bar hives.
Hey Barbara! Sorry I didn’t see this sooner! I got started completely from a little book you can order on Amazon called “The Barefoot Beekkeeper”. An easy read but I was able to get started, as well as make my own hive from his plans. The hive is beautiful. He also has a website: biobees.com
I also stay in touch with a California based site: ecoversity.org. They have some great videos that take you through different aspects of top bar keeping.
You have a headstart on me in that you are already a beekkeeper. I was starting from scratch. But I am loving the results. I just harvested a small amount of the first honey on the year. For me there’s no discussion. If I can’t do it organically and naturally, then I’m not doing it all! Good luck!!!
On the face of it, it sounds like a perfectly responsible and community-oriented thing to do. But I agree with you, Sarah. It’s lacking in the fundamental basics. The problem won’t be solved with more bee hives, it will only be solved with an education on why this happened in the first place. Maybe Prince Charles will get with the program and take the chemical companies to task. But don’t hold your breath.
I wouldn’t hold my breath here in the USA either. With folks like Bill Gates and Monsanto in charge, we’re likely to see little improvement. In fact, I expect to see things get much worse. I don’t mean to sound dire, but I think that’s where we’re headed, like it or not.
D,
I so agree with you…especially the Bill Gates and Monsanto double team in charge. Sarah, yo are right on the money here. It is like driving to Whole Foods in your SUV.
Back off the SUVs. I am very environmentally friendly and do a lot on my part but I have a big family and I LOVE my SUV. And yes, I drive to Whole Foods and enjoy every minute of it.