Talk to a local beekeeper, and the potential
consequences of the decline of the honeybee
population are alarming, causing problems for
pollination and sending ripple effects through the
food supply chain and the entire ecosystem.
Talk to a different beekeeper, and the deaths of
honeybees may be overexaggerated, misleading
the public about the supposed peril of billions of
the hive-dwelling insects bred for crop pollination
and honey production across the state and
around the world.
For all the beekeepers can agree on — that bees
themselves perform the daily tasks of keeping
the hive running, from attending to the queen
to building the comb and defending the nest —
they differ on their methods to circumvent decline
and protect the insects supporting the state’s
biodiversity and agricultural industries.