The Bees Knees: Ron Hoskins' Progress in Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture requires a multitude of things in tandem, bees notwithstanding. As we all know, our collective bee population has been declining for a number years for a myriad of reasons: poor environmental conditions, pesticide resistant parasites (as well as pesticides themselves) and lack of crop diversity / habitat. These are all individual contributors to the widespread problem.

But Ron Hoskins, a British beekeeper, has reported a possible new aid for re-population:  he "may have discovered a strain of honey bee immune to [the Varroa mite] that has been gradually wiping out populations of the vital insect worldwide," according to major news sources.

Because the parasitic mite feeds and replicates in the colony, it can lead to the total destruction of a colony. According to Wikipedia, "The Varroa mite is the parasite with the most pronounced economic impact on the beekeeping industry. It may be a contributing factor to colony collapse disorder (CCD), as research shows it is the main factor for collapsed colonies in Ontario, Canada."

The mites can sometimes be controlled with miticides, but because they infect the colonies, there is growing concern about the use of a miticide in close proximity to a consumable item like honey. There are a number of organic methods to control the mites, but the best and most obvious answer is to keep the hives clear of them in the first place.

The breed that Hoskins has potentially isolated groom each other removing the mites in the process. "If [the decline of bee populations] is left unchecked it could be a disaster for the food chain waiting to happen." Of course! Bees contribute an enormous benefit to the food industry. Without bees, we will be relegated to eating crops that are primarily wind-pollinated like grasses (corn, soy, etc.) , squash & cucumbers and a handful of other things that only make up about 10% of the natural world. In other words,  without bees we could still eat, but it would lack much variety and things that we eat readily now would be not only expensive but inaccessible to many without the resources to acquire them.

So Hoskins potential discovery is profound, timely and in his words, "accidental." Since his find, he has been trying to help establish the bees by cross -breeding queens to form more stable colonies with the "Swindon Honeybee," aptly named after his hometown.

The breeding is still in experimental stages, but it shows a lot of promise. If it all works, it will be a second chance for bees to repopulate freely and support a system of environmental sustainability and sustainable agriculture of past times.

Photo credit: pdphoto