June’s Sustainable Concord Coffee focuses on the importance of bees and why they have been dying off across the country. Bees are vital contributors, through pollination, to agriculture. Pinpointing the cause is crucial to mitigating this problem since bees are prime pollinators of roughly one-third of all crops worldwide. Research suggests that certain commonly used pesticides may be responsible. A new Harvard University School of Public Health study released on May 9, strengthens the link between neonicotinoids and collapse of honey bee colonies. Our presenters are well qualified to speak to the issue of bee death.

Dr. Richard Callahan is a beekeeper and retired entomologist, he holds a doctorate in pesticide toxicology. Working with Dr. Chensung Lu, an Associate Professor of Environmental Biology at Harvard University and Ken Worchol, a state bee inspector in Worcester County, he was involved in conducting the three year study of the impact on multiple bee colonies of a pesticide called Imidacloprid, manufactured by the Monsanto and Bayer Corporations.

Mark Hanson is a Concord beekeeper, who kept bees since 1970, first in Stow and then, for twenty-five years, in Concord. He found the decimation of his bee hives due to Colony Collapse Disorder so worrisome that he stopped keeping them in 2012. He reports that other beekeepers throughout Middlesex County are having similar problems. What actions can we take?

The ConcordCAN! Sustainable Concord Coffee is Tuesday, June 17, from 7:30- 9AM at Harvey Wheeler Community Center, 1276 Main Street in West Concord. Light refreshments are provided. Free and open to the public. There is a large shared parking lot with a childrens’ center and church. For more information go to: www.concordcan.org. Image from www.advocacy.brittanica.com.