an excellent and thought provoking video les. thank you. i have seen this video before.
in the context of the topic of this thread.........
i would like to think that we as beekeepers are more aware of our environments than most folks are, and environmental impacts. maybe some are, maybe some are not. maybe some care, maybe some don't. as beekeepers i think over time we pick and choose our battles, because there are great ones out there and i think most of us do our best. pests, mites, diseases, lack of forage, lack of pollen, herbicides and pesticides, neonics. a great demand for honey bees (nucs and packages) and a great demand for queens.
can we fix it? not sure.
bees are, and all things that live and breathe on this planet:
to the video:
alive, home, complex, beautiful, finite.
are they hurting? of course they are.
if we as good stewards of our land and our bees; look after what we have and appreciate, teach others and educate, be diligent about our management practices, educate ourselves, be cognizant of mites, diseases, pests, and chemicals and the combs in our boxes, and the homes we provide them with and they live in, and the surrounding environment our bees live in ....... perhaps we can contribute in a small way to our bees better health and well being in the future. yes?
what affects one affects all, from the smallest insect to all of the birds, the deer, bear and moose and other wild animals, and the crustaceans, insects and fish in our rivers, lakes and streams.
we can't fix everything.
i am a great lover of the outdoors as many of us are. i am a fisher, i am a beekeeper, a gardener. i am observant of many insects, butterflies, bird, fowl and raptor species and all wild animals in the waters and on the land in my local area. i know what affects them and what doesn't. i am familiar with the trees, plants, berry bushes and obnoxious/noxious weeds that grow wild on my land, native and non native. i know what my farmers are growing and what they are growing and treating their crops with.
we work hard on our land, the forest, the wet land and the river that was mined and stripped in years past to bring back what was and might be. it's never ending. maybe someday. i wish it was pristine, restoration is in progress and on it's way, but it will never be the same. we can only do so much.
what am i saying? pick and choose your battles.
the township pres really gets annoyed and irritated with me when i harp on him and the rest of the country wannabe politicians about mowing the dang ditches down full of wildflowers that benefit my bees, not to mention some of their livestock..........
