Chris Maxwell, the owner of Wild Creek Bee Farm, spoke to an audience of 30 people at a program at Kibler School this evening. Mr. Maxwell, who raises queen bees and sells honey and honey-based cosmetics, explained the problems beekeepers are experiencing because of the widespread use of Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” corn and soybean seeds.
Bees need flowers, but wildflowers are less available. Few farmers in this area grow hay or have meadows full of flowers. Mr. Maxwell also noted how vulnerable milkweed plants were to herbicides, and he explained how monarch butterflies need milkweed plants to reproduce.
I would guess that most members of the audience were Republicans, but these are Republicans who live in the country. They knows that butterflies have become scarce, that you can no longer hear whippoorwills in the evening, that bumblebees are starting to outnumber honey bees, that bats have been dying out, that barn swallows no longer swoop down to eat insects scared up by the mower.
They are also very cynical. They believe that the big chemical companies have bought off our legislators, and small organic farmers are overwhelmed by lobbyists and campaign contributors. They are correct.
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