Dave Goulson on saving the bees

Minnesota is one of five states receiving federal money to help the honeybees. The money will go to farmers and ranchers who are willing to plant crops that attract bees and encourage some changes to land rotation.

Dave Goulson, a long-time bee-admirer and professor of biological and environmental sciences at the University of Sussex, is out with a memoir: "A Sting in the Tale: My Adventures with Bumblebees." He closes with a poignant question: "Perhaps if we learn to save a bee today, we can save the world tomorrow?"

From the Seattle Times review:

Goulson takes time off from field work to provide a bumblebee natural history, an overview of how they navigate, and a bit on their varying sizes and designs, which determine which flowers each prefers. He explains learning why bumblebees have smelly feet and how he implemented a sniffer dog project to help locate nests. Another approach was a public survey, which showed many more nests in gardens than agricultural fields stripped of cover and native flowers, information that added to his increasing understanding of habitat loss.

Bumblebees are now grown and sent all over the world to pollinate tomatoes and other crops. Ketchup, Goulson writes, might well be made in "the Netherlands from tomatoes grown in Spain, pollinated by Turkish bees reared in a factory in Slovakia." He considers what damage such commerce might cause and threats to bee health globally.

Goulson joins The Daily Circuit to discuss what can be done to save this insect.