White House Gardens To Get Some Buzzing Bee Hives
Filed under: green and famous, politics — Michael d'Estries @ 3:58 pm
March 23rd 2009
Just when you thought the White House organic veggie patch couldn’t get any cooler — now come reports that it will feature two beehives.
According to a new press release by the Honey Bee Conservancy, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. will have some active pollinators this summer. From the release,
“The inclusion of two beehives in the White House garden sends a very powerful message about the importance of bees to our food supply,” says Karen Wasmer, a mentor to new beekeepers who became a beekeeper to aid in the pollination of her organic crops (http://www.kwapiary.com). “I look forward to mentoring more new beekeepers,” says Ms. Wasmer, who offers classes to beekeepers as young as age 10 through the Northeast Florida Honey Bee Association (www.nelfhba.com).
“Local beekeeping is the vibrant point where environmentalism, gardening and the local food movement intersect,” says Guillermo Fernandez of The Honeybee Conservancy, a charitable environmental organization working to protect bees. “Nearly one-third of the United State’s crops rely on bees for pollination, yet close to one-fourth of the nation’s commercial honey bees have vanished in recent years. Americans in cities from New York to Los Angeles, have flocked to the idea of small-scale beekeeping as a way to help save our bees and—like the Obamas—to pollinate their crops and generate some free local honey in the process!”
Very cool — can’t wait to see Obama in his beekeeper garb harvesting honey and beeswax. (grin.) Next thing I would love to see: a rain barrel catchment system for irrigation. Bring it!
via Treehugger
That’s too bad. Honey bees are not native to the Americas and their use by beekeepers and farmers as crop pollinators is driving many native pollinator species to extinction. Now many farmers have to keep on paying beekeepers to bring honeybees to pollinate their crops because the native pollinators in their area were displaced or killed. Despite the claims from the bee people, there is nothing environmentally friendly about introducing non-native species into the environment and forcing native species into extinction.
I did not vote for the President, but I am glad to see he is getting into beekeeping, so I guess I like him in a few ways. We need all the beekeepers we can get.
Matt,
Honeybees are not causing the extinction of native pollinators. The elimination of habitats that native pollinators need(e.g. mowing of their foraging habitats during flowering, mosquito spraying, insecticide usage, etc.) do adversely impact both native pollinators and honeybees. While native pollinators do assist in the pollination of crops, only commercial pollination using honeybees can effectively pollinate our food crops. Many crops depend on commercial pollination by honeybees such as almonds, apples, blueberries, cranberries, alfalfa, clover, and many others. Eliminate honeybee pollination and your diet becomes pretty bland. Besides, the European honeybee has been in North America since at least the 1700s.
I would expect someone from the bee industry to chime in and defend the introduction of non-native bees into the environment, but the scientific community has a different opinion. In fact, the studies I have read say that habitat destruction and bad agricultural practices have helped to destroy many native pollinators in many regions, but the introduction of honeybees has also contributed to the problem – helping to drive some species of birds and insects out of their native habitats. [from http://www.jstor.org/pss/2641767
Also, “on organic farms near natural habitat, we found that native bee communities could provide full pollination services even for a crop with heavy pollination requirements (e.g., watermelon, Citrullus lanatus), without the intervention of managed honey bees.”
[http://www.pnas.org/content/99/26/16812.abstract]
Watch youtube “Criminalizing Organic Farming”. Stop HR 875 in Congress. At http://www.opednews.com search “A Solemn Walk Through HR 875″, it will explain the tyranny of this billsupported by Monsanto.