How you can help save the bees, one hive at a time
1,948,163 views |
Noah Wilson-Rich |
TEDxProvincetown
• June 2018
Bees are dying off in record numbers, but ecologist Noah Wilson-Rich is interested in something else: Where are bees healthy and thriving? To find out, he recruited citizen scientists across the US to set up beehives in their backyards, gardens and rooftops. Learn how these little data factories are changing what we know about the habitats bees need to thrive -- and keep our future food systems stable.
Bees are dying off in record numbers, but ecologist Noah Wilson-Rich is interested in something else: Where are bees healthy and thriving? To find out, he recruited citizen scientists across the US to set up beehives in their backyards, gardens and rooftops. Learn how these little data factories are changing what we know about the habitats bees need to thrive -- and keep our future food systems stable.
This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxProvincetown, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
Read more about TEDx.Donate to The Urban Beekeeping Laboratory and Bee Sanctuary.
Learn more about welcoming bees to your office or home.
About the speaker
Noah Wilson-Rich doesn't just want to know why bees are dying off, but what's saving them.
Meredith May | Park Row, 2019 | Book
A memoir of the author's childhood growing up under the wing of her beekeeper grandfather in Big Sur, California. Meredith is my friend as well as the original beekeeper at the San Francisco Chronicle's building rooftop. Readers get immersed in why people get into beekeeping, sometimes as a means of escaping the human world a bit. This book connects us with the wonders and magic within a honey beehive.
Alan Weisman | Picador, 2008 | Book
This book provides insight into how the world could eventually be overtaken by something other than humans — in this story, it's plants. Our honeyDNA project first looked into plant DNA from honey samples as blueprints for healthy habitats. This book brings those maps to life, by animating the hidden plants lurking and waiting to take over our cities when we're gone.
Noah Wilson-Rich | Princeton University Press, 2018 | Book
A download of my brain after I completed my PhD and two years of faculty teaching. Each page turn presents a new topic, including bee biology, beekeeping, religion and a directory to rare species worldwide. It's a sort of coffee table book in format, with a great layout of bees the Museum of Natural History in London.
Rob Dunn | Basic Books, 2018 | Book
This book expands on the ways in which the science of genomics can reveal the hidden world around us. Dunn and his team collected samples of dust around the house to understand all the life forms living within, including tens of thousands of species of bacteria, thousands of fungi species, a thousand insect species (including bees) and a dozen mammals (including humans).
Jeff Lowenfels | Timber Press, 2010 | Book
This book is all about the microbes in our soil, under our feet and helping grow our food. My team's lead horticulturist, Renee Bolivar, loves the book's imagery of standing on the dirt like you're standing on the ocean — experiencing the Earth to be moving (use your imagination!), alive with microbial life in an infinite universe of possibilities. It all starts in the soil: healthy soil, healthy plants and healthy people.
Jared Diamond | W. W. Norton & Company, 1999 | Book
This book explores why some human civilizations advanced over others. My interest in bees stems from their social nature. In college, I wondered why bees have survived their 100 million years or so of life, living in complex societies without doctors, hospitals, nurses or pharmacies. Diamond's books, including Collapse, consider the rise and fall of human societies, why some groups thrive and others die off. I continue to be influenced by all forms of social living — and their secrets to success.
Tom Eisner | The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005 | Book
Tom Eisner, a world renown entomologist from Cornell University, is one of my favorites! I have a fond memory of reading this book on the beach throughout the summer, being transported into the incredible world beneath our feet, above our heads and in between sand grains. Eisner's work on venoms is particularly fascinating and memorable. Did you know daddy long legs's venom is among the most potent of all insects? The hidden benefits of these mysterious creatures are endlessly fascinating and wondrous.
About TEDx
TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." It supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community.
This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxProvincetown, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
Read more about TEDx.Donate to The Urban Beekeeping Laboratory and Bee Sanctuary.
Learn more about welcoming bees to your office or home.