Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash

Honey Bee Watch: International Coalition to Protect Survivor Colonies

On December 18th, Honey Bee Watch is hosting an on-line panel discussion on protecting bees and the natural systems on which they depend.

The event - Banning Imports, Fighting Pesticides & GMOs, Rights of Nature - will feature CDER’s Mari Margil, as well as Loretta Neary of the Native Irish Honey Bee Society and Eric Vides Borrell of the Bee Team at the El Colegio de la Frontera Sur in Mexico.

Time/Date: Thursday, 18 December (17–19h CET // 16–18h GMT // 11am–1pm EST // 8–10am PST)

Registration: Registration is free! Register here.

Event Description:

While scientific research is essential to come to evidence-based conclusions, what is subsequently done with those findings is what can potentially inform society and lead to (hopefully) positive, beneficial outcomes. For our last symposium in 2025, we hear three stories whereby impassioned ideas, solid science, and visionary action coalesced to push policies to protect the planet and honey bees’ health and habitats.

In Ireland, one of Europe’s last bastions of Apis mellifera mellifera, the Native Irish Honey Bee Society has fought hard to prevent the importation of non-native bees via a political campaign that has gained traction within the Senate and is getting closer to possibly being enacted.

In Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, beekeepers facing numerous threats associated with agro-industrial expansion — deforestation, pesticide use, the planting of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) — partnered with researchers and lawyers to push back against perpetrators like Monsanto, eventually leading to legislative victories.

And in Ecuador (plus other places around the world), the Rights of Nature are being defended and enshrined into law by activists such as those at the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights.