It’s been said that if honeybees disappeared from earth, within four years, humans would too. While many experts say this is exaggerated, we do rely on bees to pollinate one third of the food we eat.

Beehives

But honeybees are in trouble. Habitat loss, parasites, and pesticide use have stressed bee populations. And now, climate change is squeezing their habitat and could throw plant pollination and growing cycles out of sync.

So it’s critical that we do everything we can to help honeybees survive. One challenge is that bees like to nest in small box-like areas and will build hives in attics, porches, or other man-made structures.

Walter Schumacher
Walter Schumacher: Relocate rather than exterminate.

Walter Schumacher, the founder of the nonprofit, Central Texas Bee Rescue, offers an alternative to extermination.

Schumacher: “We go places where honey bees are unwanted, and we relocate them, and take them places where honey bees are wanted, such as school programs, master gardener programs, rooftops.”

”Bee Click To Tweet

The group also educates people about the critical importance of bees and how to maintain hives safely. Schumacher hopes that by sweetening the honeybee’s reputation, more people will give them the support they need to survive a changing climate.

Reporting credit: Justyna Bicz/ChavoBart Digital Media.
Photos: Beehives image screenshot and Walter Schumacher courtesy of Central Texas Bee Rescue.

More Resources
Central Texas Bee Rescue
Will plants and pollinators get out of sync?
Climate change crushes bee populations
Turning hive problems into bee solutions
Honey bee health and colony collapse disorder

Lisa Palmer is a freelance journalist and a fellow at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, SESYNC, in Annapolis, Md. Her writing covers the environment, energy, food security, agriculture,...