Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["elderberryjam" <elderberryjam@zippytech.com>]

We have a local beekeeper who has lost nearly 90% of his hives. He sells at 
farm markets, and his wife makes and sells beeswax candles.

There was an article in the most recent National Geographic about Jamestown. 
According to this article, the continent of North America did not have honey 
bees or night crawlers prior to the Jamestown settlement. It also did not 
have apple or peach trees. The Indians burned the forest underbrush to make 
the forests easier to ride through. They cultivated their vegetables and 
grew them without honey bees.

We take a lot for granted. There are many food sources, and humanity has 
adapted. Many people have lost lives during the adaptation. We just haven't 
witnessed that in our era on this continent. It would be nice if we didn't 
have to. But I sometimes wonder how long such good fortune from forethought 
and organization can last.

Gwen