We have all been closely monitoring the coronavirus at home, but for us, more importantly, the effects of global travel to France. What affects the world around us also affects our classroom. As of today, March the 3rd, we are clear to go to France, based on the CDC recommendations. We do not know if or when that will change, as that is up to the university to decide. We may even be pulled back while we are in France, but we will see this documentary through to the end. No matter what happens, we will put out another award-winning documentary about beekeeping.
Now moving onto lighter fare: Brian McDermott arraigned for Andy Hatt, a local beekeeper from Salem, New York, to come in with some of his equipment and speak with us about how bees, hives, and agriculture work. He explained how he got into beekeeping when he was a teacher in the Republic of Turkey 40 years ago and how critical small-time beekeepers are to local farmers, and how biodiversity is essential to maintaining hive health. He also spoke about how monocropping and shipping hives around the country are weakening and mistreating the bees that produce the majority of our food, and how the lack of diversity and over-spraying of chemicals is harming the surrounding ecosystems. He then showed us a hive box he typically uses in the field, and how it is assembled, and what each part of the box does. That will be in a Beesearch Friday post in April, so stay tuned!
Do you or someone you know keep bees? We want to hear your story! Pace University’s Pace Docs crew is in the process of producing a documentary about Urban Beekeeping, the latest in a series of award-winning environmentally and culturally relevant documentaries from our department. Contact us at paceudocs@gmail.com. And follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tik Tok for more content!