Page 30 - the NOISE May 2013

“Oh, F**k-it! I am done with this,” say many who have suc- cumb to the effects of industrialization, cumulative
pesticides, a high GMO diet; high-fructose corn syrup, elec- tromagnetic disturbances in the force, degenerate breeding, chemical medications, living in a prefabricated environment, and enduring daily stress.
This isn’t just a phenomenon for the world-weary readers of The Noise, but is perhaps a feeling felt by the honeybee, too. For all those who have been there — they know the indelible mark of disenchantment that makes them want to hole-up in some enclave at the bottom of Grand Canyon, or a bottle.
Is this what happens when a colony collapses? When we face it — that the existing structure no longer makes sense or is working — we sometimes wish we could walk away from it all.
This year, industrial beekeepers, responsible for managing the pollination of about a quarter of American food crops, re- ported a 50% loss in their hive populations due to Colony Col- lapse Disorder, where the worker bees just up and disappear with no definitive scientific explanation.
Asking why the bees are disappearing is like asking why there is more serious illness among Americans, and the cap- tains of industry are likely to do little about either, which is why people are taking responsibility into their own hands in their communities to make a healthier and happier environ- ment for themselves and the bees. Like growing our own or- ganic food, riding a bike or building a home from natural ma- terials — organic and responsible beekeeping can become yet another act of resistance against the human cultural/envi- ronmental collapse disorder.
I am grateful for the crisis,” says Gunther hauk, director for the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary in Virginia. He is a four-decade beekeeper and biodynamic gardener who aban- doned his bee sanctuary in Illinois due to the detrimental ef- fects of pesticides and GMO corn on his bees. Mr. Hauk says colony collapse disorder will give people an opportunity to
“have a deeper understanding for the spiritual side of this im- portant animal.”
A new generation of beekeeping instruction has emerged in Northern Arizona that offers a more holistic perspective. patrick pynes, a sustainability educator, has been gardening and beekeeping for over 20 years. He is fluent in Spanish and semi-fluent in Navajo and worked with Gary Nabhan while at Northern Arizona University.
Mr. Pynes says: “Open-pollinated, heirloom corn types of lo- cally adapted indigenous maize varieties are still being grown in our part of the Southwest. Although honeybees did not co- evolve with corn, which is a domesticated grass of indigenous American (Mexican) origin, honeybees love corn pollen. It is a baby food for them, a source of protein. What I envision is a powerful synthesis of these two species, the one (corn) bring- ing life and energy to the other (honeybees), and vice versa.
“Corn is one of the three sisters of indigenous American origin. The honeybee is one of the four sisters; her origin is in Europe and Africa, but now she is living in the Americas, or trying to live here. Ironically, it is genetically modified and/or hybridized corn that is now contributing to the decline and death of the honeybee. This kind of “corrupted” indigenous maize is now the backbone plant of the contemporary US un- healthy diet; we eat as much or more corn and corn products as did the ancient Mayans, but this ‘food’ is killing us (obesity and type-2 diabetes, etc.) and is killing the honeybee. It is
killing the honeybee not only because they also eat it (high fructose corn syrup, pollen, etc.) but also because synthetic pesticides (nicotinoids) are being used to grow this corn in vast petroleum-based monocultures. These pesticides are slowly killing the honeybees, along with several other ‘syner- gized’ factors.
“There is a another, life-affirming way that involves growing open-pollinated corn types that use relatively little water and that are woven into scattered networks or webs of small-scale organic, top bar-based apiaries. These apiaries would be lo- cated at different elevations from the Verde River to the San Francisco Peaks and eastward to the Little Colorado River Val- ley and White Mountains region. Some apiaries would be lo- cated in or near farms and gardens. Others would be located in less domesticated landscapes, like national forests, etc.
“In the end, corn can help to kill off the honeybee just like smallpox of European origin nearly killed off the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (America). Or, in a different version of the ongoing story, the two sisters can work together in a loving, nurturing relationship that nurtures both the land and the people. In indigenous wisdom, the land and the people are the same sacred entity. What is sacred brings us both life and death (which are inextricably intertwined), the female rain and the tsunami, too. The honeybees are the sacred femi- nine divine. They bring us much more life than death, but they can kill you, too. We need to respect that POWER instead of being afraid of it and afraid of ourselves and the land. One way to respect the bees is to be a backyard top bar beekeeper.”
Growing more native corn in Arizona could provide the bees with plenty of non-GMO pollen that they could eat as a typeof“beebread,”butitdoesnothavenectar. Flowernectar is used to make honey. A challenge to having bees in Arizona is having enough forage for them to make enough honey to play their role in the ecosystem in a healthy way.
“In the near future, Northern Arizona farmers and garden- ers will need to be growing much more food for local and regional consumption than they are now,” Mr. Pynes says. “ It will no longer be possible to import virtually all of our food, as is now the case. In order to grow more food and more high quality, nutritious food, we will need honeybees to pollinate our plants. Honeybees are vital to local food ecosystems or food sheds, so we are going to need to have more people who know how to work with honeybees (beekeepers) and more hives of honeybees (both feral and domestic) living on the land, including in urban areas. For honeybees to survive and thrive, we will need to plant and nurture more native and non-native plant species that support the honeybee, and we will need more people who are willing to do the hard but rewarding work of beekeeping, even with more defensive honeybees. We will need people who are willing to learn bee- keeping and who are willing to teach beekeeping to other people.”
Patrick Pynes will be teaching a bee class in Flagstaff June 8. To learn more visit honeybeeteacher.com
| John Bianchini is a beekeeper, farmer, and community organizer who moonlights as a groundskeep. wildcanyon@gmail.com
30 • MAY 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us