Can Darwinian beekeeping help protect the honey bees?

Bees the world over are threatened by pesticides, parasites and the hazards of climate change. — AFP

With World Bee Day celebrated recently (May 20), it’s a good occasion to look at how we can better protect these precious insects from the threats of pesticides and parasites and the ravages of climate change.

In a recently published book, American biologist Thomas Seeley suggests turning to Darwinian beekeeping, based on the natural ability of bees to adapt to their environment. Far, therefore, from human intervention.

Bees are under threat. In France, nearly 30% of bee colonies disappear every year, while in the United States honey bee hives have gone from numbering some 6 million in 1947 to 2.4 million in 2008, 60% less, as Greenpeace points out. In recent years, the general public has become increasingly aware of the disappearance of these insects which are essential to food production and the survival of our ecosystems.