Course description
Bees play a crucial role in our ecosystems. As they find nourishment, bees move pollen from plant to plant, fertilizing those plants so that they can fruit, reproduce, and produce food crops for human and animal consumption. As pollinators, bees are incredibly important to healthy ecosystems. When bees thrive, so do our plants - and ultimately so do we.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service, one out of every three bites of food in the US depends on honeybees and other pollinators. Honeybees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops each year. Honeybee and pollinator health contributes to food diversity, security, and profitability.
During the past 50 years, honeybees have declined. Each winter since 2006, about 30 percent of beehives have collapsed because of disease, parasites, poor nutrition, pesticide exposure, and other issues.
A major contributing factor to honeybee decline is invasive and stressful beekeeping practices. A majority of honeybee colonies in the United States are managed by commercial beekeepers whose primary reasons for keeping bees are honey production and commercial pollination. In order to meet demand in these industries, beekeepers must keep bees in a way that stresses the colony and compromises their overall health.
The health and longevity of honeybees is directly correlated to beekeeping practices. Now more than ever, we need to reform the beekeeping industry to better serve the honeybees through implementing natural and sustainable beekeeping practices.
Courtney Cosgriff, professional beekeeper, herbalist, and owner of Honeybee Herbals, teaches this in-depth course on natural beekeeping. Topics covered include honeybee biology, hive anatomy, the evolution of flowering plants and the bees, the human-apian relationship throughout history, what is happening to our bees, ethically sourcing honeybees, selecting a hive design, choosing a hive location, managing your hive throughout the seasons, troubleshooting issues with the hive, and how to harvest products from the hive.
Sign up today to learn everything you need to steward bees as a critical part of our ecosystem, whether you choose to do so personally or professionally.
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