by Melanie Kirby, beekeeper, queen breeder

Please allow me to introduce myself. I wear multiple hats but most of them revolve around bees. I’ve been keeping bees for 25 years and have had the immense and intense roller coaster of emotions learning from bees and working with keepers around the globe. I’ve seen healthy bees and not-so-healthy ones. I’ve seen amazing management techniques and others that were questionable, from sea to shining sea and across the “pond.” These experiences have provided me with several recurring thoughts, including the most important one which is that I have more questions than answers! These experiences have humbled me to the nurture and torture of nature. These experiences have opened my eyes to both what I’ve always felt to be true and to mysteries beyond my immediate experience. I’ve learned that bees and their keepers are fantastical storytellers weaving their journeys to make sense of their environments, their aspirations, and their survival.

But before I delve deeper into talking about bees, and wildfires- of which I have experienced the latter several times but more recently, very closely, I’d like to tell you about where I come from- as it plays a lot into how I view the bees and how I choose to manage my hives, through good times and bad…

My heritage is very important to me. I am indeed a descendant of the American “melting pot” though my roots anchor me beyond words as an Indigenous woman. There are over 500 federally recognized tribes across the United States. And there are many more that are not federally recognized. With recognition comes the prospect of being counted. Though not always and not always fairly. This is not a controversial topic. It is simply, a fact. But it is one, that is changing- albeit slowly, to becoming fairer. And that is a just thing.

I mention this because for many generations, prior to colonization in the Americas, Indigenous peoples and societies have learned from their environments how to preserve, conserve, and manage their landscapes through biomimicry and forward-thinking approaches that take into account, the generations to come. Biomimicry, holistic, regenerative, sustainable, organic, permaculture, and adaptive all have their roots in Indigenous practices.

These buzzwords have been “re-branded” and marketed to capture the interest and influence of settlers. But their roots remain the same- in truth, based on Indigenous practices. Indigenous practices are diverse. They are innovative and respectful. And despite the distinct and unique differences between Indigenous peoples, there is also a shared Indigenous WorldView- a view that sees the interconnectedness of all things and that recognizes that we all influence and depend on each other.

I take this shared worldview to heart and apply it to each of my choices- both familial and professional. I try to put my best foot forward and use my learned experiences to make decisions that I feel best support my regard for our interconnectedness. This interconnectedness definitely drives my continued approach to beekeeping.

It is this interconnectedness that I continue to reference and talk about when I give presentations. It is sometimes recognized by those who have heard me talk, and to others, it may sound like a foreign language. But I’ve been beating this same drum for over 2 decades.

I attended a beekeeping conference one year where they had listed my title as “Agriculture Philosopher.” I found that strange and slightly offensive as I wondered, “So do they think I only theorize, or do they realize that I actually practice beekeeping through a mindful lens?” Underneath their typed title, I added an additional one that read- “Consilience Researcher.”

“Consilience” means the unity of knowledge. It is the weaving together of various knowledge systems and approaches to create an interdisciplinary perspective- one that involves many disciplines and studies in order to gain a better understanding and review. I realized that most of us have been conditioned to learn about things in silos- meaning individually without context, without the relationship, and without concern for how things connect with one another.

Consilience became one of my missions to help bring this style of approach to our American apicultural industry as another valid approach to healthy beekeeping management. It has been a slow and sometimes rocky slope. But one that is gaining momentum with more interest- especially in response to the acceptance of the “rebranded” and marketed buzz words reaching more folks. This is a good thing… although it would be even better if we all acknowledged where these practices originated- with Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK).

If you made it this far, you’re probably wondering how this fits into the topic of BEES & WILDFIRES? Here goes….

Bees, like other animals- including humans, react to their environment. Beekeepers have known this across cultures and millennia as we’ve learned how to approach and steward them. Our ancestors recognized that by using smoke, they could pacify the bees and remove the comb carefully. Over time, we’ve learned that the smoke actually muffles their pheromones, which is their main form of communication with each other. We’ve learned that too much smoke, or fire, can cause the bees to flee in search of a safer location. No one wants to be caught in a fire- not bees, nor humans.

This spring, my bees and I experienced the closest of dangers with raging wildfires in the southern Rockies. The fire, which started as a “controlled” burn, turned quite the opposite and merged with another “controlled” burn. These fires- called the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires merged into New Mexico’s largest state fire in history. It spanned over 50 miles long and almost 500,000 square miles in coverage. The fires were started by the U.S. Forest Service during the windiest months. Anyone who is from New Mexico or who has lived there for some time knows that you never start a fire in March, April, and even early May due to the volatile spring weather. The southern Rocky Mountain region tends to warm up in March, which causes the thaw to commence. The thawing snow creates cold air that then come April, rushes down the canyons and into the valleys causing late frosts. I call this the “Rocky Mountain Whistle” as it is notoriously windy, and yo-yo temperature swings bring hail, spring snow storms, and abrasive blowing dust.

For the locals, and especially for the Native Peoples in this region, understanding the patterns of weather, as affected by the local topography is essential for survival. Folks don’t transplant or plant directly outdoors until after Mother’s Day or even Memorial Day due to the late frost and spring snow storms. I’ve personally experienced snow as late as June 10th in this region. Local folks don’t burn cleaned brush piles or clearings from their acequias (waterways) during windy periods. But yet, the Feds with their fancy equipment and tools, thought they knew better…

The fires displaced numerous communities and wreaked havoc on businesses and industries. And though my bee farm didn’t actually burn, this whole situation caused the evacuation of the farm and family and the relocation of hundreds of hives. Our spring mountain queen production had to be put on hold until evacuation orders cleared- 8 weeks later. We spent close to $20K just in fuel to relocate all of our hives and for supplemental feed while our bees waited in apiaries over 20 miles away. The fire came close- 5 miles away from the farm. But it was close enough to upend the whole bee season.

So why did we move our apiaries? We had no idea as to which way the fire was going to go. It surrounded us and boxed in our home farm. We didn’t want to risk losing hives due to the lack of relocation. We recognized that with too much smoke in the air, our bees would not be able to smell forage as well- what was just getting blooming at the time. We also didn’t know how long the situation was going to last. Friends in communities miles away offered locations to host our hives. Some even offered to come manually help with loading hives and moving equipment and home supplies.

We are so blessed to have a caring community. We had over 20 loads of bees and equipment that we had to move. Some equipment got stacked at a valley apiary site down by the Rio Grande. Other equipment got placed into storage units that were offered at no cost to the displaced. Queens that we planned to rear for sharing with beekeepers near and far and for research were postponed and overall queen production this year has been at a fraction of what was anticipated. And while I lament on the strife of this season, I can imagine what it meant for my bees…and more so even for the landscapes that provide for them.

One can’t help but start to comprehend the gravity of shifting climate and the uncertainty it brings. Will we have a better season next year? Or will it be worse?! I am reminded of my farm partner’s persistence- farmers are forever optimists hoping that next year will be better, or the next one… But those gaps may become larger and seem insurmountable. How can we all swiftly undo what has caused such drastic weather? Is the rise of the Industrial Age at its peak or will it transform into practices and products that are more mindful of current and future generations to come? What kind of world will not only our children but also our bees and other glorious biodiversity live in?

My hope is that we will return to what our Ancestors have known- that we are all interconnected and that our actions affect each other. Indigenous peoples have been managing fire in complex and diverse landscapes. They’ve learned how to use fire as a healthy stewardship method and to support landscapes and biodiversity through Indigenous technologies and TEK.

But today’s society has been conditioned to prevent wildfires and to try to standardize practices that create mono-crop agriculture, loss of biodiversity, and forests with dry and deep understories that become tinderboxes. If we look at fire as a negative, without reflecting on its positive uses, we isolate it and begin to regard everything out of context, which is very different in our living world than in a vacuum by itself. None of us live in a vacuum by ourselves. Not us, nor our bees.

Now the monsoon rains have begun and are swiftly racing down the burn scars bringing rivers of ash and washing away homes, seeds, and what took years upon years to establish. The understory is now no story. The fire scars will last decades if not longer. The forest areas burned will have to undergo slow repair in order to recuperate. They may never return to their full glory as the fire burned so intensely, and fast that the seeds buried in the thick understory all combusted.

And so here we are at an impasse. How can we move forward and also repair the damage done? How can we better support our bees and their landscapes? How can we ensure that the generations to come learn from our experiences and truly progress in equitable and respectful ways? There is a way forward, and one that is inclusive. The way forward is through consilience. The way forward encourages us to integrate methods from varying knowledge systems- including those from Indigenous Peoples and responsible technology. The way forward is what we make it. And the way forward is also the way back…

I heard an Indigenous Elder once say in a presentation that despite the inequities, the hardships, and the imbalance, and though Indigenous practices have historically been regarded as unadvanced and backward, “Indigenous People are so far behind, we’re ahead.” Being ahead means using one’s head. Being ahead means taking into account all aspects of one’s actions. Being ahead means being cognizant of cause and effect, and of how we impact each other. Being ahead means being aware, being mutually respectful, and being mindful.

My hope, and the hope of other marginalized perspectives, land stewardship “philosophers” and practitioners are that all of us- from all perspectives can sit at the same table and have discussions on how to keep our planet intact and healthy. And, that others are willing to make the table longer and are open to listening to each other with receptivity and willingness to make life better for our bees and all of our plant and animal relatives for generations to come.

About the Author:

Melanie Kirby is a professional queen honey bee breeder and holds a Master’s in Entomology. She currently serves as the Extension Educator at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Melanie is a registered member of Tortugas Pueblo. As an interdisciplinarian, Melanie works with bees and their keepers around the globe. You can follow her on InstaGram @ziaqueenbees and @nectarnomad and at www.ziaqueenbees.com

Additional Readings/Resources:

Burkle, L., Simanonok, M., Durney, J.S., Myers, J., Belote, T. Wildfires Influence Abundance, Diversity, and Intraspecific and Interspecific Trait Variation of Native Bees and Flowering Plants Across Burned and Unburned Landscapes Front. Ecol. Evol., 02 July 2019 Sec. Population, Community, and Ecosystem Dynamics https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00252/full

Evangelista, C., Kraft, P., Dacke, M., Labhart, T. and Srinivasan, M.V., 2014. Honeybee navigation: critically examining the role of the polarization compass. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369(1636), p.20130037. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2013.0037

Galbraith, S.M., Cane, J.H., Moldenke, A.R. and Rivers, J.W., 2019. Wild bee diversity increases with local fire severity in a fire‐prone landscape. Ecosphere, 10(4), p.e02668.
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.2668

Garvey, K.K., University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources What Do Honey Bee Colonies Do During a Raging Wildfire? https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=43528

Garvey, K.K. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources 2020. The Bee People, The Bees, and The Fires https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=43585&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed

Hegedüs, R., Åkesson, S. and Horváth, G., 2007. Anomalous celestial polarization caused by forest fire smoke: why do some insects become visually disoriented under smoky skies?. Applied Optics, 46(14), pp.2717-2726. https://opg.optica.org/ao/abstract.cfm?uri=AO-46-14-2717

Love, B.G. and Cane, J.H., 2016. Limited direct effects of a massive wildfire on its sagebrush steppe bee community. Ecological Entomology, 41(3), pp.317-326. https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/een.12304

Mason, S.; Shirey, V., Ponisio, L., Gelhaus, J., Responses from bees, butterflies, and ground beetles to different fire and site characteristics: A global meta-analysis Biological Conservation 261 (2021) Elsevier Ltd. Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320721003177

Tan, Y.Q., Dion, E. and Monteiro, A., 2018. Haze smoke impacts survival and development of butterflies. Scientific Reports, 8(1), pp.1-10. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-34043-0

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by the Honey Bee Health Coalition

Commercial beekeepers are finding success treating Varroa, a parasitic mite that kills honey bees, in their hives without relying exclusively on off-label chemical treatments, according to a new guide published this week by the Honey Bee Health Coalition. The guide is pivotal to the industry as Varroa mites are already showing signs of widespread resistance to existing varroacides.

“We set off to create a hands-on guide that covers what you might learn when talking to a commercial beekeeper in the hallway of a bee convention,” said Chris Hiatt, vice president of the American Honey Producers Association. “We stress the importance of not relying on one single product for your mite control. Commercial beekeepers helped develop this for commercial beekeepers and the info in this guide can put to use into beekeeping operations now.”

Titled Guide to Varroa Mite Controls for Commercial Beekeeping Operations, it lays out a vision that addresses the risks of resistance created by off-label use. Widespread resistance to amitraz poses a serious threat to the long-term financial health of every commercial beekeeping business.

Continuous use of off-label amitraz, with increasing dosages and frequency of use as it becomes less effective, is very likely to cause amitraz to lose its effectiveness more quickly, just as other products like coumaphos and tau-fluvalinate have become largely ineffective for controlling Varroa mites.

The guide aims to help commercial beekeepers evaluate a variety of Varroa control methods that can be integrated into a management plan to protect their bees and their business. It highlights the experiences of beekeepers who are having success as they explore alternative strategies to limit their reliance on off-label amitraz and avoid using unregistered products.

Download the guide at this link

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Ohio beekeeper calls for industry-wide race to the top on pollinator protection before bees lose their race against time

Blooming flowers and the buzz of a new growing season inspires hope this spring after a long, challenging year.  But as a beekeeper in Akron, Ohio, the spring planting of new crops also reminds me of my bees’ vulnerability. Too often, what begins as the humming of new life at the beginning of the season ends as thousands of dead bees in my hives. It’s devastating, year after year, to watch so many of these incredible creatures die.

Twenty years ago, U.S. beekeepers like me considered a 10% annual loss of our bees customary; now 60% losses are normal for beekeepers contracted to pollinate our food, and who live in agricultural areas. A new study published in Science sheds some light on why. It found that even though farmers are using lower amounts of insecticides than a decade ago, agriculture has become twice as deadly to bees. That’s because we’re using more of certain pesticides, like neonicotinoids, that are highly toxic to insect life, from bees and butterflies to dragonflies and mayflies. Scientists warn of an “insect apocalypse” as 40% of insect species face extinction in coming decades.

So I was heartened to see the largest U.S. food retailer, Walmart, step up this week to help protect bees. Without bees, the shelves at Walmart and every other grocery store would look pretty bare since one in three bites of food we eat depends on pollination from honey bees as well as native pollinators. Research shows that we’re already seeing shortages in key crops like apples and blueberries because of pollinator declines.

Walmart’s new commitments will help to decrease the use of pollinator-toxic pesticides on millions of acres of farmland around the world. Walmart is requiring all of the fresh produce farmers supplying its U.S. stores to adopt ecological farming methods called Integrated Pest Management (IPM) by 2025 and to get verified by independent third-party certifiers. IPM practices — including rotating crops, planting resistant crop varieties and fostering beneficial insects that kill pests without the chemicals — can decrease the need for toxic pesticides in the first place. Walmart is also encouraging fresh produce suppliers to phase out neonicotinoids and another highly toxic pesticide called chlorpyrifos, to avoid replacing them with other concerning pesticides, and to track and report use of these chemicals to assess progress.

With these commitments, Walmart is now leading the food retail industry on pollinator protection according to the Bee Friendly Retailer scorecard.

This is great news for bees, beekeepers and the farmers who rely on pollinators to grow abundant food. But it’s only a first step. Walmart needs to expand its commitments beyond the produce aisles. Research shows that the largest and most harmful use of deadly neonic pesticides for bees is as seed coatings for crops like corn and soy. Many analyses, including from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and University of Minnesota, show that these seed treatments don’t improve farmers’ yields or profit, so they come with an enormous cost to the environment without providing benefits. While we push for policy action to ban neonic coated seeds, retail giants like Walmart could make real change on the ground.

And one company cannot solve the pollinator crisis on its own. It’s time for other grocery stores like Kroger, the second largest U.S. food retailer, to step up and do their part. Kroger, which is headquartered here in Ohio, is falling behind on pollinator protection.

I hope Walmart’s new commitments are taken as a challenge to all food retailers to do better. Because what we need is an industry-wide race to the top on pollinator protection before bees lose their race against time.

—————————–

Michele Colopy is an Ohio beekeeper and executive director of LEAD for Pollinators. Thanks to Friends of the Earth for all of their work on behalf of pollinators.

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[The Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment] believe the evidence is clear and overwhelming:

1. Pesticides in general, including those used by SLCMAD, represent a widespread risk to human health even at low doses, especially for fetuses and infants.
2. The VOCs from pesticide spraying is a significant contributor to local air pollution.
3. Spraying is not effective in reducing mosquito populations.
4. We must not allow a cure worse than the disease. The incidence of severe outcomes from West Nile Virus is so low that preventing those outcomes should not be allowed to eclipse the long list of other health and environmental concerns from pesticide use.
5. Spraying does not reduce the incidence of WNV.
6. Claims of safety for pesticide spraying use faulty logic and outdated, faulty science.
7. There are multiple oversights, inadequacies, omissions, inconsistencies, and errors in the SLCMAD’s EA.
8. Pesticide spraying has adverse impacts on beneficial insects, bird populations, wildlife, the ecosystem of the Great Salt Lake and beyond
9. There are Better Ways to Control Mosquitoes

Conclusion

The scientific and empirical evidence is overwhelming that spraying adulticides to kill mosquitoes, especially aerial spraying, is ineffective, and can be even counterproductive, over the long term, and even the short term, to both goals of controlling mosquito populations and preventing West Nile Virus. Furthermore, the medical literature strongly indicates that routine aerial spraying over Salt Lake City’s airshed represents a broad-based danger to public health. Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE) implore SLCMAD to end all of their insecticide spraying for mosquitoes, whether from back packs, trucks, or airplanes. This practice is an institutionalized relic of the 1950s and should be stopped immediately.”

READ the full report at https://www.uphe.org/priority-issues/mosquito-pesticide-spraying/

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Every beginning beekeeping book advises beekeepers to take notes and keep records on their bees, the weather, nectar flows, etc.  This is a book that actually supports the need for record keeping.  The “Good to Know” and “Good Tip” sections get to the important questions and information for each section.  As the majority of beekeepers are older folks who wear bifocals the big print is greatly appreciated.  As a photographer, I do wish the photos could have been in color for full details of bees on frames and in cells, as well as providing visual clarity of pests.  Alas, the cost of color is often prohibitive, but it encourages beginner beekeepers to seek out other beekeepers to compare notes and color photos or videos of your hive.

The book is a great overview of beekeeping, with a good reading list for in-depth topics once you are hooked as a beekeeper.  There is so much to learn about bees, and this book is a great place to start.

Find more here 

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Continue your beekeeping, gardening, farming, small business, and leadership education during 2021.  Forty-plus presentations will inform, inspire, and invigorate listeners.  Two series will be presented:  Log-in To Learn series and Creating Pollinator Habitat series.  Webinars will be held from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. eastern (7p central, 6p mountain, 5p pacific), and feature regional and national speakers who are experienced, knowledgeable, and engaging in topics important to beekeeping, pollinator habitat, healthy soils, clean water, community-supported agriculture, leadership, and small business.  Registration fee is $10 per webinar per person.  Group rates are available for member associations, clubs, and groups.  Live presentations will be recorded and available for individuals to pay-to-view the presentations across 2021.  For more information about topics, dates, and group rates visit https://leadforpollinators.org/log-in-to-learn-webinars/  or email us at info@leadforpollinators.org

Review the Schedule of Webinars.

Other opportunities with the Log-In To Learn and Creating Pollinator Habitat webinar series include:

Advertising at the webinars

Becoming a Sponsor of the webinars

And the Multipak Group Rate for 11 presentations for your group during 2021.

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Infused, processed, pasteurized, raw, comb, real, pure- all things you may read on your label of honey bought at the store. Which one is best? And, how can you tell?

Facts
Almost 76% of honey found at grocery stores has been found to be adulterated in some way. This means that the honey has been heated or treated to mask properties- the good, the bad and the ugly. Once heated to 116 degrees, honey loses most of its beneficial properties. Imported honey contributes 75% of sales in the USA, meaning only a mere 25% was actually produced here. It is imperative to know the area that your honey came from and the way the beekeeper extracted it- especially for medicinal or allergy treatment use. Some honey can be dark as night while others are almost clear. The strongest tasting is usually the darkest, but also contains the highest amounts of enzymes and minerals, and other antioxidants. Typically, most light honeys are created by honey bees during the spring and early summer while the darker colors are summer or fall harvests. The color and taste are totally dependent upon what the bees foraged in the area.

Diversity
Honey is extremely diverse. Each harvest, hive, season and area vastly contrast with the last. Honey bees fill their comb with honey through a very extensive process, and thousands of cells are filled each season. Each individual cell has the possibility of having different nectar from flowers- making each cell unique. How do they do it? Female honey bees
called “worker” honey bees venture out of the hive in search of resources to feed their colony, or family. They communicate where the best sources are found through specific communications within the hive. Depending on the
forage utilized, the honey crop produced can crystallize, or solidify quickly or very slowly due to a high level of water content in the nectar. The honey will look like sugar when it solidifies, but you can easily return crystallized honey to liquid honey by letting the jar of honey soak in warm water (less than 116 degrees) until it reverts to liquid if that is what you prefer. There is a joke in the beekeeping world- Rapeseed, also known as Canola, “solidifies on the way back to the hive.” With this information you now know that when you purchase honey, you will never seemingly get the same honey again!

So, what’s the best honey?
Which one is best? That depends on what you want to do with it and your personal taste! Raw honey has not been processed in any form, making it excellent for almost anything. Comb honey is straight from the hive- there are several different methods beekeepers use to receive this from their hives, with the honey already packaged in edible beeswax.
Comb honey is the most revered as it is hard to tamper with and in its’ most natural state. Creamed honey is normally raw honey in a more creamed form- perfect for spreading on toast or biscuits and other foods. Infused honey has other ingredients, such as herbs and spices, to give it a different flavor. Infused honey is wonderful when looking to give honey as a gift or considering the multiple benefits of the additive and the honey combined. The only bad honey is “honey” that has the label but is not truly only containing honey from honey bees,it may have been heated, treated,
micro-filtered or diluted. Always read your labels- look for the source and the ingredients. The USDA requires any additives to be listed on the label. The simple way to secure quality honey is to support your local beekeepers.

Buy Local
Real honey is produced by honey bees that are taken care of by beekeepers. With over ~125,000 beekeepers in the United States, there are lots of opportunities to experience real, local honey. Many are families, but almost all use the money made on selling honey and hive products to continue caring for their bees. The best part about buying local is you have the chance to meet a beekeeper, ask questions about bees and ensure you are getting the best product! There are a myriad of different honeys and hive products, so try several! Not sure where you can get real, true local
honey? Look up your local bee club online or on social media, or ask around- You will surely meet several of the hardest working people- local beekeepers.

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LEAD for Pollinators is excited to present a national conference Becoming 21st Century Leaders: Women in Beekeeping and Agriculture. This national conference will be held at Walsh University, 2020 E. Maple St., N. Canton, OH 44721, October 24-25, 2020. Using feedback from women, and men beekeepers, and other agricultural stakeholders, this event addresses the issues raised by the beekeeping and agricultural community.

This conference will offer three educational tracts: Leadership, Business, and Safety for Women (in the bee yard and in the board room), featuring a total of 32 different topics. Speakers are trained, experienced, licensed experts in law, accounting, biology, volunteer administration, education, leadership, and more. Speakers will provide you with the “how to” you need to start your business, provide insightful “lessons learned” from real-world experience in management, and offer skills and strategies for personal safety in and around the bee yard and the board room.
This event serves unique needs in beekeeping and agriculture. Planning for all contingencies in an uncertain world, we are expanding the attendance option to include “virtual on-line attendance” for registered attendees. Our conference will be produced by professional conference videographers and IT specialists experienced in virtual events.

Our featured speaker at the opening day lunch will be Denise O’Brien, founding Director of the Women, Food and Agricultural Network. Denise has farmed in southwest Iowa for 37 years with her husband Larry Harris, and operated a CSA farm called Rolling Acres that includes three acres of fruits and vegetables and six acres of apples. She also raises organic chickens and turkeys. In addition to farming, she has been involved with community volunteering and policy work in the agricultural sector. Denise lobbied with the Iowa Farm Unity Coalition, directed the Rural Women’s Leadership Development Project of Prairie Fire Rural Action, Inc. and was president of the National Family Farm Coalition. Denise has served on numerous advisory boards with the Community Food Security Coalition, the Farm to School Council, and the Iowa Women’s Foundation to name a few. She was a W.F.Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow from 2001-2003. From 2011 to 2012, Denise was a USDA advisor in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

For her depth of work and outreach, Denise has received the 2005 Practical Farmers of Iowa Sustainable Agriculture Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Iowa Farmer’s Union and the Athena Award from the Atlantic, Iowa Chamber of Commerce. In 2000 Denise was inducted into Iowa’s Women’s Hall of Fame.

Becoming 21st Century Leaders: Women in Beekeeping & Agriculture, Oct. 24-25, 2020, will bring together (on-site and virtually online) a hive of experienced, diverse, purposeful individuals to expand the opportunities for women (and men) as keepers of the ecosystem to support the health and sustainability of honey bees, native pollinators, and beekeeping. Learn more about our scheduled speakers on our website under “Becoming 21st Century Leaders.”

We also invite you to be a Sponsor of this inaugural event. This is an opportunity to reach current and future leaders in beekeeping and agriculture. Learn about all of the Speakers here. We hope you can be a part of this event through your Sponsorship. Deadline to be a Sponsor is July 20, 2020. Please see the Sponsorship information online for details of how you can support leadership & business education for women, and men, in beekeeping and agriculture.

Become a sponsor, save the dates and plan to attend on-site or virtually online.
For more information, visit our webpage or email us at info@leadforpollinators.org

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Bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from human activities.

Pollination is, however, a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems. Nearly 90% of the world’s wild flowering plant species depend, entirely, or at least in part, on animal pollination, along with more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land. Not only do pollinators contribute directly to food security, but they are key to conserving biodiversity.

To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN designated 20 May as World Bee Day.

The goal is to strengthen measures aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators, which would significantly contribute to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries.

We all depend on pollinators and it is, therefore, crucial to monitor their decline and halt the loss of biodiversity.

Read more HERE  

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Learn the history of Earth Day
Take Action for Earth Day
Tune into Earth Day 2020 LIVE

13 must read books on the environment and climate change for adults

Celebrate our home planet with these activities

The Exploratorium–Explore Earth Day history, science, and activities to help you notice the world around you—even around your home—to understand some of the big ideas behind the science of Earth’s systems. Visit the Exploratorium HERE

25 Books to Celebrate Earth Day

33 Great Children’s Books About Earth Day

10 Simple Things to Do to Celebrate Earth Day from Teen Vogue

10 Simple Choices for a Healthier Planet. Learn more HERE

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) —Looking back: 10 conservation wins from the last 10 years

WWF Art For Earth
WWF is inviting people to create art pieces that show the importance of nature, the ways in which it inspires us, and what it personally means to them. We’re asking that people share their art with the digital world on Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #ArtForEarth and tagging WWF. Throughout the week, WWF will share some of our favorite pieces to highlight on our social media accounts. Whether you’re a professional artist or looking for a creative outlet, we invite you to join this movement of creative self-expression for nature.

Daily artistic themes to guide your artwork:

Monday, April 20: Wildlife
Tuesday, April 21: Freshwater
Wednesday (Earth Day), April 22: One Planet
Thursday, April 23: Food
Friday, April 24: Forests
Saturday, April 25: Climate
Sunday, April 26: Oceans 

LEARN MORE HERE About Art For Earth

Center for Biological Diversity: Saving Half the Earth: An Earth Day Discussion- April 22, 2020 at 4 p.m. Pacific time
If we’re going to halt the wildlife extinction crisis, we have to protect the places where these animals and plants live. Join us on Earth Day — this Wednesday — for a special discussion about our ambitious goal of protecting 30% of wildlands and waters by 2030 and half of them by 2050. The presentation will include the Center’s Executive Director Kierán Suckling and our Public Lands Director Randi Spivak.T his week’s conversation will dive into the value of our public lands and waters, the importance of thinking big, and what it will take to ensure wild animals and plants have long-term protection for the places they call home. TO REGISTER for the WEBINAR HERE

International Dark Sky Week (during Earth Day celebrations) learn more

Rainforest Action Network- Participate in a virtual march. Learn more

Take Action with Beyond Pesticides to Tell USDA that Organic Production Matters to Nutrition Guidelines. To take action go HERE

Learn about The rapid decline of the restless, chirruping house sparrow

Take Action for Monarch Butterflies. Since their peak in the mid-90s, monarch populations have decreased by 90 percent, in part due to the widespread use of Roundup and other toxic pesticides. Tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban Roundup, so we can save this incredible insect before it’s too late. Take Action this Earth Day HERE

So much we can all do. Participate, Take Action, Learn, and Share in Earth Day 2020.

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