Claire Kremen, Honey Bee Pollination Crisis: Can Native Bees Take up the Slack? (1/13/2009)

Claire Kremen, Conservation Ecologist, UC Berkeley; 2007 MacArthur Honoree

Monoculture farming leaves us highly dependent on honey bees, whose pollination affects 75 percent of fruits and vegetables and 30 percent of all food production. However, managed hives are being wiped out by colony collapse disorder at an alarming rate. Kremen will discuss how wild bees can boost the effectiveness of managed hives and play a critical role in pollinating the crops that keep California’s economy humming.

This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club on January 13, 2009.