Miami’s beekeeping history looks toward green future

By Lana Pochiro, Staff Writer

Walking along Patterson Street, the newly constructed Western Campus dorms dominate the landscape, but another crucial element of Miami's history and future often goes unnoticed - the Langstroth Cottage.

This historical site marks the birthplace of modern beekeeping, "Bee Mecca" as experts in the field call it, where Lorenzo Langstroth invented the Langstroth beehive in 1846. His invention allowed farmers to utilize the symbiotic relationship between bees as pollinators and crops that require pollination in order to begin mass-producing food for the first time in history. Modern beekeeping worldwide still uses the Langstroth model.

Beekeeping remains a lucrative element to modern agriculture. In an article for Yale's Environment 360, author and environmental journalist Elizabeth Grossman states that of all food consumed globally, one in every three bites owes its production to pollinators. The White House reported in June 2014 that 90 percent of commercially grown crops in the United States depend upon pollination by honeybees.

The mutually beneficial relationship between bees and mass agriculture now faces a dire challenge. According to a White House statement, beekeepers have reported winter loss rates of 30 percent over the past few years. President of the Butler County Beekeepers Association, Alex Zomchek, estimates that this winter's losses totaled closer to 40 and 50 percent.

Zomchek credited this steep population decline to the destructive Varroa mite and the overuse of pesticides by large, agricultural corporations. This crisis occurs in a climate where universities are cutting research funding for studies on bees and large multinational agricultural corporations trust in their ability to buy their way out of this problem.

"We are now in competition with so many other economic and agricultural interests that are willing to say 'Not my problem,'" said Zomchek.

Zomchek believes that these corporations will soon be forced to realize the flaws in their current model.

"This is the second year in a row that regardless of what [corporations] are willing to pay, we haven't been able to supply them with enough bees," he said.

Associate Professor in the Biology Department, Alfredo Huerta, agrees this is not a temporary problem.

"All of this is contributing to the loss of biodiversity in seeds and biodiversity in natural populations on which we rely and will continue to rely on in the future in order to develop crops."

Huerta stressed the importance of educating the public on this issue as a way to combat the economic interests of large, multinational agriculture corporations.

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

"We could establish something really big here at Miami," he said. "With Miami as the beginning of modern beekeeping, we can build on that."

Both Zomchek and Huerta believe that Miami should help solve this problem through research and education.

Zomchek explained that efforts at education have already started at Oxford's Ecology Research Center. Students of Huerta and his wife Nancy Smith-Huerta's biology and botany classes visit the center's public observation apiary and learn about the causes and consequences of the declining bee population.

Huerta and Zomchek hope to receive funding to begin a student research project focusing on sustainable beekeeping and solutions to the decline in the bee population. Huerta explained this as step in what he called the "Langstroth Initiative."

Huerta sees the possibilities of this program extending far beyond a singular research program.

"This Langstroth initiative could work in collaboration with other things here at Miami like the possible Food Studies Institute," he said.

The proposed Food Studies Institute could receive a $250,000 seed grant to begin its interdisciplinary approach to studying food production, security and sustainability. Huerta and American Studies professor Marguerite Schaffer lead this initiative, and Huerta sees the possibility of a joint effort between the institute and a possible Langstroth initiative. These programs could offer unique experiential learning and hands-on fieldwork to students.

Zomchek views the Langstroth history at Miami as a critical opportunity.

"We really want to take advantage of this locality. There's nowhere else in the world that can lay claim to this heritage and legacy," he said. "A lot of us are looking at that cottage and using it as a physical metaphor for the next step," Zomchek said. "If it started here, let's pick it up here."