BeeHiveYourself

60 Minutes Interview on Honey Bees

Everyone please check out the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRBJf57aNp4

Harvest time was Great

Check out the story from Channel 4 Yesterday:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Honeybees are almost as important as oxygen to human survival, but there has been concern recently for the bees' survival.
Video: Apiarist Specializes In Improving Bee Numbers
The state said that the number of bees in the state is declining, so it enlisted the help of apiarist Michael Studer.
Studer is the state’s head bee expert and is charged with helping to stop the decline in the bee population in Tennessee.
He said his job was to, "Keep an eye on this. Try and make sure that we have bees for the state to pollinate our crops so we have food to eat."
In 2007, Tennessee lost 29 percent of its honeybees. The bees are being attacked by two kinds of mites and a type of fungus, Studer said, and he is concerned most by the fungus.
"We didn’t know we had it until last year. It caused, basically, about 29 percent decline in the number of colonies in the state of Tennessee last year," he said.
The bees are key to human survival. Studer said that means that if there are no honeybees, there will be little food.
"We wouldn’t have enough food to eat. We wouldn’t have fruits and vegetables. Even lettuce, onions, carrots, things like that, we need bees to produce the seed for that for the crops so they can grow them. If you don’t have pollination on things like squash, apples, you won’t get a good fruit set, and there won’t be anything there for them to sell in the markets," Studer said.
Tennessee would lose about $120 million in crops without the honeybees, Studer said.
Nationwide, about 40 percent of the bees have been lost.
Studer is on the front line of the battle.
"It’s very important," he said. "If we want to eat, we have to have the bees."
June 6, 2008: Bees Thrive At Belle Meade Plantation