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In a remarkable show of research, reporting, and storytelling, Hannah Nordhaus tells the complex and fascinating story of honeybees in American today, tracking their place in our lives from the first American beekeeping authority, Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, to the thousands of dedicated individuals who continue to care about honeybees despite all the reasons not to. The Beekeeper''s Lament is an essential history of an unsung animal. With the rise of the monocrop and increasingly efficient pesticides, there are simply not enough natural pollinators left to complete the massive task of covering millions of acres of almond groves. Farmers pay beekeepers millions of dollars to have their crops pollinated by upwards of ten thousand hives. With bees, an acre of almonds can produce two thousand pounds of nuts. Without bees, that same acre would produce no more than thirty pounds; the California almond industry is utterly dependent on the unpredictable honeybee. However, never before has the honeybee''s future survival been so unclear. As the stresses mount on bee populations, beekeepers like John Miller have been faced with devastating hive losses. In addition to natural causes for losses, whole colonies of bees are simply flying away, abandoning their hives, an epidemic known by the media as Colony Collapse Disorder. In The Beekeeper''s Lament, award-winning journalist, Hannah Nordhaus, tells the riveting story of Miller, one of America''s foremost migratory beekeepers; of the myriad and mysterious epidemics that threaten American honeybee populations; and of the absolutely vital role honeybees play in American agribusiness.
