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I mean, somewhat true, but probably a touch oversold? I don't think people putting in a single beehive are doing much to impact a neighborhood. Probably less
by taeric 1y ago
I mean, somewhat true, but probably a touch oversold? I don't think people putting in a single beehive are doing much to impact a neighborhood. Probably less than having a house cat. Which, is not nothing, but is not ecosystem changing, either.
I'm reminded of how much we were taught that monocrops were bad things in grade school. And yet, you'd be hard pressed to name a popular food that isn't grown in giant monocrop fields.
- micromacrofoot 1y agoThe damage is largely already done because the non-native bees are now a feral invasive species that have out competed natives, and the invasive honey bees haven't co-evolved to pollinate native plantlife
- tptacek 1y agoMy understanding is that there are in fact very few feral honey bee colonies in the US ("if you see a honey bee in your yard, chances are someone owns it") and at some points over the last 20 years feral honey bee colonies had essentially been eradicated by the Varroa mite.
- micromacrofoot 1y agoI get swarms trying to establish new colonies every summer, and I'm in a major city where most people don't have any yard space.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> probably a touch oversold? I don't think people putting in a single beehive are doing much to impact a neighborhood Probably not, especially if they’re in an urban environment. The bees being shipped to farms, on the other hand, are ecologically destructive (as well as economically invaluable). My takeaway is not that honeybees are evil. It’s that we need more pollinators in more stripes, and that the agricultural industry has successfully confused pollinators in general with honeybees in particular.
- lazide 1y agoIndustrial farming scales. And that scales better (until it breaks) with fewer variables. Aka mono crops. Similar to many, many other things.