Name: Why bees are disappearing
Uploaded: 2013-09-17T14:57:28Z
Duration: 15 min 43 s
Description: Honeybees have thrived for 50 million years, each colony 40 to 50,000 individuals coordinated in amazing harmony. So why, seven years ago, did colonies start dying en masse? Marla Spivak reveals four reasons which are interacting with tragic consequences. This is not simply a problem because bees pollinate a third of the world's crops. Could this incredible species be holding up a mirror for us?

Marla Spivak: Why bees are disappearing

Why bees are disappearing

Honeybees have thrived for 50 million years, each colony 40 to 50,000 individuals coordinated in amazing harmony. So why, seven years ago, did colonies start dying en masse? Marla Spivak reveals four reasons which are interacting with tragic consequences. This is not simply a problem because bees pollinate a third of the world's crops. Could this incredible species be holding up a mirror for us?

Bees quietly sustain over a third of global crop production, yet their populations have plummeted by half since World War II. Loss of flowering plants, pesticide overload, monoculture farming, and parasites are combining to drive this collapse. Hand pollination is already needed in parts of the world where bees are gone. Restoring flower-rich landscapes can help bees recover and protect our own food supply.

Bee Decline Signals A Crisis In Our Food System

How we’ll revive our connection with bees

climate change

environment

science

sustainability

food

animals

history

pollution

biodiversity

insects

bees

agriculture

botany

conservation

ecology

plants

gardening

TED Stage Talk