Why They're Important
Our fascination with the honeybee began thousands of years ago. This member of the insect order Hymenoptera plays a key role in the human and natural world. Honeybees are more than just honey producers – they are the best among all the stinging insects at creating formic acid – an essential acid and the basis for all plant life. … read more
Why They're In Trouble
Statistics speak very loudly, especially those gathered over the past forty years. In the recent decades of the 1960s and 1970s, waves of massive death rates of bee colonies were reported in Europe. During the next decade, the varroa mite, imported from the Far East, claimed an increasing number of hives, and beekeepers lost between half to two-thirds (and in some cases all) of their colonies in a single year! The same pattern repeated itself in America a few years later. … read more
What We're Doing
Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary was founded in the certainty that there can be a better future for the honeybees. At this time, with Colony Collapse Disorder and a host of illnesses, mites and beetles undermining the bees' health and endangering their survival, we have to think of them as patients in the emergency room – and we must start by asking the right questions. Instead of focusing on how much honey we can get from the bees we must ask what can be done to protect, strengthen and heal them. … read more
What You Can Do
There are lots of things that you can do to help support the honeybee: … read more
Gallery
Beautiful pictures of bees! … see more
