The world we need
to build for bees
if we want
to keep them
Honey bees and their keepers experience staggering rates of colony loss in much of the world. The challenges we face aren’t just complex, they’re collective. We work with beekeepers, educators, and organizations to engage in systems change. Our mission is to build both resilient beekeeping practices and resilient beekeeping systems.
Beekeeping systems
Colony loss
Colony loss is increasing in much of the world, with annual losses exceeding 50% in some countries. Researchers attribute these losses to multiple, interacting stressors: parasites, disease, floral resource shortages, and pesticide exposure. These stressors are not arbitrary or isolated; they are rooted in and exacerbated by the industrialization of agricultural and beekeeping systems.
1A beekeeping system consists of extended network of bees and beekeepers who are connected to – and impact – each other.
Honey bees are a true free-range species. They forage and mate out on the landscape, swapping genes and germs with colonies located multiple miles away. Because our colonies are interconnected, the management that one colony receives, the pathogens it contracts, and the genes it passes on can impact outcomes for other colonies, even colonies located hundreds of miles away.
Building resilience
In the honey bee world, we are – quite literally – our neighbors’ keepers. This means that honey bee health is not just shaped by beekeepers’ individual actions. Health outcomes depend in large part on the surrounding beekeeping system. This means that if beekeepers want to move the needle on honey bee health, we can’t go it alone. We must work together to build both resilient beekeeping practices, and resilient beekeeping systems.
We help beekeepers map the systems they are in and craft context-specific, multi-sector action plans to unhook from industrialization and seed the conditions their bees need to thrive.
Our Services
Free online resources
Learn more about the impacts of industrial agriculture on honey bee health, the power of beekeeper knowledge networks, and beekeeper-led strategies to seed systems change.
Workshops
Our Resilient Beekeeping Systems trainings are available both to individual beekeepers and to beekeeping groups. Sign up to access our offerings
Consults and invited talks
Contact us to schedule an individual consult or to set up an invited talk with your local beekeeping group.
1 For more on beekeeping systems, see Building Resilient Beekeeping Systems, a guidance memo produced with support from the Tiny Beam Fund