Beekeeping Advocacy

Beekeeping Advocacy
Think Science - TPR
Don Fraser, VP Alamo Area Beekeepers Association
texmanbees@gmail.com
www.texmanbees.wordpress.com
Copyright - All Rights Reserved- Dr Don Fraser (2018)

Topics
• Why Are Pollinators Important?
• Points of View and Practices & Trends
• Commercial Beekeepers
• Consumers
• Hobbyist Beekeeper
• Generational Changes – Beekeeping
• Fuzzy Nation
• Top 10 – Things We Can Do to Help
• Question & Answers

This Is What Your (Whole Foods) Grocery
Store Looks Like Without Bees
• Bees, beetles, butterflies and their pollinating brethren are
essential in the production of our food supply
• In 2013 Whole Foods Market removed all of the fruits and
vegetables dependent on pollinators from its produce section to
create a striking visual of what oursupermarkets would look like
without pollinators Share The Buzz campaign. The store ditched
237 items (52 percent) of the normal product mix

This Is What Your (Whole Foods) Grocery Store
Looks Like With Bees

Store Looks Like Without Bees

Store Looks Like With Bees

Fact Check
• If the problem persists, our food supply could be in serious
jeopardy. Bees, both the native and non-native, pollinate seventy
out of the top 100 human food crops, which supply nearly 90
percent of the world’s meals. In fact, the Apis mellifera (aka the
Western honeybee) is responsible for 1 in every 3 mouthfuls we
eat (Huffington Post 2017)
• List of crop plants pollinated by bees (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_
bees

Point of View: Commercial Beekeepers
• Challenges:
• Keeping bees alive – Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
• Impact of varroa mites, tracheal mites, hive beetles, viruses, fire ants,
wax moths, crazy ants
• Pollination – exposure to chemicals (insecticides and herbicides) and
mono-culture crops
• Commercial – foreign competition; adulterated honey
• Cost of Production – input costs – food, medicines, equipment,
transport, theft
• Quality of bees – e.g. queen viability
• Politics – incidental exposure to insecticides

Point of View: Consumers
• Current Trend (general):
• Consumer Desire – year round access to ANY food
• Organic e.g. pasture-raised, free-range, chemical free _______
• Gluten Free _______
• Cost Sensitive – Cost/Quality – Health (Genes/Epigenetics)
• Life Skills – Going Back in Time
• Social Media – Advantage: speed; public input and reach; Disadvantage –
variability in quality of content
• Organic? USDA proposes changes to “National List” for organic
producers. Food Safety News. January 19, 2018

Point of View: Newbie/Hobbyist Beekeeper
• Positives
• Consumer Support – buy “Local”
• Texas – “Special Valuation for Beekeeping” – think “Ag Exempt”
(2012)
• Honey Exemption – TX Senate Bill 1766 (2015)
• Back to Nature – pollination for backyard fruit trees, gardens
• Educational Resources: books, internet, local bee clubs and experts
• Bee Suppliers and Vendors – quality and competition
• Culture Change: Focus on protecting and preserving bees –
recognition of the benefits (consumers and political)
• Educational Resources: books, internet, local bee clubs and experts

“
”
Personal Beekeeping Philosophy. A lot of decisions
on equipment or methods, depend on your
personal philosophy of life and your personal
philosophy of beekeeping.Some people have more
faith in Nature or the Creator to work things out.
Some are more interested in keeping their bees
healthy with chemicals and treatments ...
Personal Beekeeping Philosophy, Bush Bees, natural beekeeping
www.bushfarms.com/beesphilosophy.htm
Beekeeping is like a good house. Build a good foundation first. Learn what and how to ask, gain
expertise (through self-study and mentorship (multiple). The result – a mixture of the “best”
practices and willingness to adapt with personal experience and research. Learning should never be
static. Don Fraser – [“Honey I’ve Got the Bees” www.texmanbees.wordpress.com]

Top 10 Things We Can Do to Help
• Social media and competing commercial interests can create confusion.
Take the time to understand the issues – ask questions – find quality
information – variety of sources and points of view
• Support local beekeepers – economic and political
• Extreme limitation – insecticides and herbicides & encourage others to
do the same
• Grow Texas Natives – consult w/ local NPSOT (Native Plant Society of
Texas) chapter and local beekeepers – nectar and pollen sources
• Buy LOCAL honey – read the labels
• “If you cannot find “local honey” become a beekeeper

Top 10 Things We Can Do to Help
• Support backyard gardeners and community gardens
• Buy “Organic Foods”
• Educate – spread the word
• Become an Advocate – Use Your Influence
• Become a hobbyist beekeeper

References
• USDA. Attractiveness of Agricultural Crops to Pollinating Bees for the Collection
of Nectar and/or Pollen
https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/OPMP/Attractiveness%20of%20Agriculture%20Crops
%20to%20Pollinating%20Bees%20Report-FINAL_Web%20Version_Jan%203_2018.pdf
• Canadian Farm Organic. Six meals we would never enjoy the same way again if
bees disappeared. Huffington Post. Sept 9, 2014 (updated December 6, 2017)
• Flynn D. USDA proposes changes to “National List” for organic producers. Food
Safety News. January 19, 2018
• Visser N. This is what your grocery store looks like without bees. Huffington
Post. June 17, 2014 (updated December 6, 2017)
• Wikipedia. List of plants pollinated by bees.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees

Information Overload

Homework
• Read the book – “Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics
is Fueling Our Modern Plagues” by Martin J Blaser MD
• Search Google - Microbiome and Human Disease(s)
• Search Google - Microbiome and Honeybees
• Search Google – Bee Microbiome Project – Dr Nancy Moran (UT
Austin)
• Search Google – Monsanto and glyphosate and antibiotic
• Assessment – What is the impact of glyphosate on honeybees and
our food supply?

Weed-killing Chemical Linked to Cancer Found in
Children’s Breakfast Foods - CBS News (August 15,
2018)
• Environmental Working Group
(EWG) – trace amounts of
glyphosate (RoundUp) found in
oats, granolas and snack bars
• 31 of 45 products tested + for
glyphosate (including Quaker Old
Fashioned Oats, Cheerios, Back to
Nature Classic Granola.
• WHO – glyphosate is a “probable
carcinogen.”
• Quaker Oats - “we proudly stand
by the safety and quality of our
Quaker products. Any levels of
glyphosate that may remain are
significantly below any limits of
the safety standards by the EPA
and European Commision as safe
for human consumption.”
• General Mills – “Our products are
safe and meet regulatory safety
levels. EPA has researched this
issue and sets the rules that we
follow.”

Glyphosate Use on Ag Land-USA (2015)
(USGS – National Water Quality Assessment Project)

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