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There’s an army of small employees buzzing around our fields, assisting our food grow. Over the previous couple of years, populations of bees and other insect pollinators have actually dropped precipitously. This looming “insect apocalypse” has numerous causes, from environment modification to environment loss, and it is currently sustaining poor nutrition in some parts of the world

Among the most significant consider bee decreases is commercial farming. “Big Ag” — with its focus on large fields planted with a single crop, its heavy dependence on effective pesticidesand its extensive usage of business bee nests to pollinate crops like almonds– lowers pollinator populations by eliminating and confusing the pestsminimizing their healthy food sources, and leaving nest bees overworked and, for that reason, vulnerable to parasites like Varroa

Jennie Durant is a bee scientist, science author, and the author of”Bitter Honey: Big Ag’s Threat to Bees and the Fight to Save Them”(Island/Princeton University Press). She has actually invested more than a years dealing with beekeepers, researchers, and policymakers, consisting of time at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and University of California, at both Davis and Berkeley. Her writing has actually appeared in Literary Hub, Grist, Glamour, HuffPost, and the”San Francisco Chronicle.” She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her household. You can find out more about her work at www.jenniedurant.com

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