Introducing: Business of Bees

Adam Allington (0:02)

From Bloomberg Environment, this is The Business of Bees, a pop-up podcast about the humble honeybee and the outsized role it plays in our economy.

SPEAKER_2 (0:12)

The Business of Bees is quite good.

SPEAKER_3 (0:14)

They're kind of like the panda, aren't they, of kind of inverse brick conservation.

SPEAKER_4 (0:19)

It's a big enough difference that without them, there would be really no point in trying to farm almonds out here.

Adam Allington (0:26)

In fact, these days, about one in three bites of food you eat wouldn't be possible without commercial bee pollination.

SPEAKER_5 (0:32)

You know, they'll go from almonds to plums to cherries to apples to vine crops to pit fruits to cotton to lima beans to watermelons, and then their season is over.

Adam Allington (0:49)

As important as bees have become for farming, there's also increasing signs that bees are in trouble.

SPEAKER_2 (0:55)

Adult bees leave the hive and never come back leaving the babies to die. Researchers blame pesticides, disease and parasites.

Adam Allington (1:03)

In the decade since colony collapse disorder started making headlines across the country, bees are still dying in record numbers.

SPEAKER_4 (1:11)

This last year, I had the most losses I have ever had.

Adam Allington (1:16)

In trying to track down answers to why this is still happening, we spoke with people at every corner of the honeybee ecosystem. I can't sleep at night a lot of times.

You have to be paranoid to be a beekeeper these days. And we asked them big questions about things like, is the way we're raising bees actually hurting them?

SPEAKER_6 (1:36)

We've put these colonies right next to each other, and we've sort of rewarded these parasites for their worst possible instincts.

Adam Allington (1:43)

And after years and years of research, what have we found out about the connections between pesticides and bee health?

SPEAKER_7 (1:50)

Literally thousands of studies now suggesting that one way or another, these chemicals are having a really significant negative impact on our environment. And there has to be a better way to grow food than applying incredibly persistent neurotoxins.

Adam Allington (2:05)

If you, like us, find yourself fascinated by bees and concerned about what's happening with pollinators in our environment, take out your phone right now and subscribe. I'm Adam Allington, back to you very soon.