Good Riddance: The Great Pollinator Disaster
Disappearing honeybees and a virtual birthday bash for yours truly later today.
Hi friends, welcome back to our weekly series, Good Riddance, where we gather in the comments every Saturday to let something go from the week before, no matter how big or small.
In the spring of 2020 I took up a hobby I had been longing to get into since I was a little girl: gardening. I dreamed of growing my own fruits and vegetables, learning which herbs grow best with which plants, how best to fertilize, and which flowers attract the most pollinators. One of the first things I learned on my gardening journey was taught to me by the presence of bees. When they started showing up in the late spring, it meant I was doing something right, and soon the plants they pollinated would yield small bounties of strawberries, tomatoes, squash, and many other varieties of fresh produce, herbs, and flowers growing on my back porch in Brooklyn.
But this year I’ve noticed an overwhelming absence of those little buzzing friends in my backyard and have even found a few dead on my porch, which made my heart sink; when there are fewer bees, there is sure to be less of what depends on them.
The disappearance of huge populations of bees is affecting much more than just my garden. Even though this likely isn’t the first time you’ve heard about how important bees are, a recent article in The Atlantic illustrated just how severely at risk the United States’ honeybee population is. “But why, Dr. Amber!?” you ask. Great question. Unlike in previous years (and under previous presidential administrations), the people who have researched and resolved similar problems with bee population have had their programs defunded and their jobs eliminated by the Trump administration. As The Atlantic reports, “The USDA has long been the country’s frontline response to honeybee die-offs, using its labs to characterize threats to the insects.” Gutting the USDA and other safety, research, and protection programs is wildly short sighted, and will have far-reaching, catastrophic consequences for decades to come.
Bees are vital to our ecosystem, our health, and our food supply. They are responsible for 70%-80% of our global agriculture, are essential to food security, and they provide many, many other benefits for human beings and animals alike. Bee venom is even used in the treatment of immunological disorders and can help seasonal allergies, and scientific researchers have begun to look at how it can also be beneficial to the pain that comes with inflammatory diseases like arthritis. This is not MAHA woo-woo wellness nonsense I’m spouting here—the benefits of what bees of all kinds bring to the table (or garden) is well-documented. It is devastating to know that in just under one year, 62% of commercial bee colonies have died off in the United States, a fact that greatly impacts every single one of us no matter where we live.
I know there is so much injustice to feel angry and exhausted about right now, but saving our planet and the creatures that nurture it should remain one of our top priorities. If it doesn’t, everything else we’ve been fighting for—for ourselves and our families, but especially for future generations—will have been for nothing. Our survival as a species depends on, above all else, protecting this planet and its ecosystems.
This week, I’m mourning the loss of our pollinator populations. As is always the case with me, and maybe you too, it’s in this moment when the despair and feeling of hopelessness begins to creep in that I know I must push back against it, and use my voice in any way I can to draw attention to the issue. So this week, I’m letting go of the idea that we as individuals aren’t equipped to fight for the bee populations we still have and to help them repopulate in more direct ways. If you’d like to support bee populations wherever you may reside, I’ve shared some resources below:
Save The Bees, USA
The Bee Girl Organization, USA
The Honeybee Conservancy, USA
Pollinator Partnership, Canada
Bees for Development, United Kingdom
Purple Hive Project, Australia (Get some honey and support bees too!)
United Nations Development Program (Support smallholder beekeepers and farmers around the world.)
5 Calls, USA (Provides contact information and call scripts to contact your congresspeople about bills and proposals that are up for vote, including restoring USDA funding and protecting the integrity of the National Climate Assessment report.)
What are you letting go of this week? Let me know in the comments bee-low. (I’m sorry, I had to!!)
May’s The Short and Sweet, TODAY! Saturday, May 24 at 1pm ET: May is my birthday month, and I’m throwing myself a virtual birthday party for our monthly series live over Zoom for paid subscribers, The Short and Sweet. Join me for an hour hangout where we can all mingle, and you can ask me any burning questions you might have about writing, acting, publishing, or directing, all while I wear a birthday hat and eat a giant slice of carrot cake. May’s The Short and Sweet will take place today, Saturday, May 24 from 1pm-2pm ET. The Zoom link will be emailed to paid subscribers about thirty minutes before the start of the Zoom.
Want a personalized postcard from me? Earlier this week I shared the thrilling news that in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the publication of my book, Dark Sparkler, HarperCollins has done a gorgeous reprint of the collection which is available now wherever books are sold! It’s available in hardcopy and e-book, but to sweeten the deal, if you order the physical version of the book and email me a picture of your receipt, I’ll personally mail you a limited edition postcard, handwritten and personalized by me. Send your receipt, name, and mailing address to LITDSubstack@gmail.com to receive a postcard.
The mechanic two blocks from me has a blooming honeybee population. He collects honey and gifts it to customers with their service. When he discovered the hives, he called the city and they said they would remove them by destroying them, so instead he embraced them and became their caretakers. As a bonus he says they are natural security.
So not releasing this week, but embracing.
Thank you for this beautiful space Amber, looking forward to celebrating with you later.
Sending love and strength out to you all.
I’m letting go of my need to please others which always leaves me out in the cold. I’m clinging to my optimism, my support for all women & the democratic principals I was raised with. I’m starting a new job in June with the hope that I can do even more to support my loved ones & these causes close to me. There’s gonna be some shakeups along the way when I don’t lay down like a rug for others. I trust I will make it to the other side and be an even stronger braver mother my boys deserve in this world. Let’s go girls!