Bee Sustainable: Saving our planet’s pollinators with Melanie Kirby

Summary:

Bees and other pollinators have an important role to play in our planet's ecosystems. As they travel flower to flower collecting pollen, not only are they feeding themselves, but they're feeding us as well. By helping plants reproduce, bees ensure we have an abundance of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts that fuel our food chains. But that's not all...the honey bees make serves as both a sweet treat and a medicine.

Bees take care of us, and in return we need to take care of them. Human activities and climate change are having a negative impact on bee populations globally, so our guest this episode, interdisciplinarian and beekeeper Melanie Kirby, is here to teach us all about bees and what we can do to help them thrive.

Melanie is the co-founder of Zia Queenbees farm, which specializes in breeding regionally-adaptive bees. A Fulbright-NatGeo Storytelling Fellow, and a Grist 50 Climate Fixer with a graduate degree in Entomology, she advocates for broadening the narrative of marginalized farmers and communities as a mestiza of mixed Indigenous ancestry. Melanie collaborates across cultures and landscapes promoting whole system approaches to pollinator conservation with diverse communities and is a writer, researcher, artist, and mom.

In this episode, we'll learn about different bee species and their habits, the impact of climate change on bees, and what we can do to support the health of local bee populations.

Listen along with your friends, parents, and teachers as we share discussion questions and helpful definitions...there’s even a quiz at the end of the episode to practice what you learned. So, join Zach as We the Children gets the latest buzz on bees from Melanie Kirby!

Highlights:

• Melanie's introduction to beekeeping (03:09)
• The importance of bees and pollinators in ecosystems (03:34)
• How Melanie connects culture and beekeeping (09:00)
• Bee types and traits (10:53)
• How health and habits (16:46)
• Impact of climate change on bees (23:45)
• How we can protect bees (26:01)
• Lessons we can learn from bees (31:22)
• Wrap Up & Quiz! (32:52)

Links:

Website: Zia Queenbees Farm & Field Institute

LinkedIn: Melanie Kirby

Instagram: @nectarnomad

Bee City USA

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