Beehives take up little space on the land, but, like other livestock, bees need space to roam, and they need a varied diet. Beekeeper Melanie Kirby is a "landless farmer," who sets up her beehives on farms and ranches, where the bees can thrive and the agrarians can take advantage of their pollination services.
In fact pollination services have become essential to American agriculture, as monocrop farms don't provide sufficient habitat for pollinators to thrive, so beekeepers actually ship bees by the pallet seasonally to sites when trees and other crops are in bloom. In 2008 the income from pollination services exceeded the price of honey, which shifted the business model for beekeepers, especially at the large scale.
Among the many challenges for beekeepers are pesticide use, which threaten bees and in turn the foods that rely on them. Kirby is involved in helping to create pollinator protection policies to spread awareness and safeguard these essential constituents of the food system.
Saving seeds, saving ecosystems
Investing in regenerative ag
From suburban Chicago to rural Montana: the journey of a bison rancher
A matter of conscience
The robber barons of today's food corporations
Farm Aid: Food, festivity, and fighting for farmers
Healthy fish snacks––what cod be better?
The Carbon Credit Conundrum
At The Table: Chefs advocating for a better food system
Bonus episode: Ask Me Anything!
Photographing grasslands: beauty, community, life
Land, sheep, and the inefficiency of being too efficient
Transforming 40 million acres of lawns into thriving ecosystems
Sheep and goats for healthy land, thriving businesses, and fire reduction
Words of wisdom from a holistic veterinarian and regenerative dairy farmer
Funneling federal ag money to the people who most need it
How to have family business meetings that are productive––and short
Weathering global change on an Oregon sheep ranch
From mountaintops to farm fields: Landscape scale restoration
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