People seem to love to read about bees, and the so-called "colony collapse disorder" and the possible ramifications for agriculture (and life on earth) have really ramped up the number of articles about them. Now there are three new books about colony collapse that just came out. What is making me write here is this Salon article about bees. It is well meaning, to be sure, but the solutions it proposes are underwhelming, to say the least, and largely consumerist. They recommend buying things from Burt's Bees and Haagen Dazs because they support bee research. Oh boy.

My humble recommendation is to start a hive yourself. Now is the time to read up on the basics and assemble the necessary equipment. A little bit of work and a small investment and you will be good to go in the spring. The best way for the bees to flourish and/or recover is to have many diversified hives and wide distribution of beekeepers. Rather than think of the solution as something that can be purchased with some well-meaning consumption, best to simply become involved. A hive in every yard.

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