permaculture

["Eugene Monaco" <efmonaco@comcast.net>]

Just wanted to pass this info along for those who can see this film
 
Info & Trailer: http://www.pollennationthemovie.com/film.html
Screenings: http://www.pollennationthemovie.com/news.html
 
Gene Monaco
Knoxville, TN  
 
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Every year, hundreds of professional beekeepers forklift their wooden hives
onto 18-wheel semis, strap down the loads, and head out on the highway.
Across the country -- from the Imperial Valley in California to the Florida
panhandle and the hills of Maine -- farmers of scale rely on these
domesticated bees to pollinate their crops. 

A lack of honeybees can cause entire crops to fail, sending ripples through
global markets. But when the pollinators are plentiful, farmers get bigger
and more perfect apples, more prosperous almond trees and bursting cherry
orchards.

These bees are the overlooked workers in American agriculture. One out of
every 3 bites an American puts in their mouth is dependent on the
beekeeper's diminutive livestock; 15 billion dollars worth of food crops are
pollinated by Apis Mellifera every year. 

This film follows the journey of one commercial beekeeper - third generation
beekeeper Jeff Anderson -- from the honey harvest on the High Plains to the
warm winter-feeding grounds of California. It also explores the history of
human interaction with bees, a story that reflects the development of
agriculture. In ancient Egypt beekeepers floated their clay hives down the
Nile to some of the first irrigated fields; in the 21st century,
professional bee brokers help balance the rising costs of maintaining hives
with increasing demand from big agriculture. 

But while today's beekeepers may be propping up an ever-greater chunk of our
diet and economy, the numbers of both honeybees and the numerous species of
native bees are in serious decline. 

In the last 30 years, the number of honeybees in the US has been cut in
half. The beekeepers say it takes more and more work to keep their bees
alive as they battle new problems wrought by pesticide use, destruction of
habitat, the stress of trucking them around the country, and epidemic
infestations of mites and viruses. Recently, beekeepers have even started
importing thousands of bee colonies from Australia every year to replace
their dying hives and keep up with the demand for pollination.

We've arrived at a time in history when even the most simple of biological
processes is reliant on a global trade network