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Vermont's bee populations are failing. Here's what you can do to help

Pollinating Highbush Blueberries. Each flower must be visited once by a bumble bee to get enough pollen so that berries will grow to maximum size.
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A bumblebee pollinates high bush blueberries. This hour, we're talking about the health of Vermont's bees.

Live call-in discussion: Vermont has more than 300 species of bees, from wild bumblebees to domestic honeybees. And many plants need those bees to pollinate. But many bee species are dying—threatened by climate change, pesticides and disease.

This hour, we’re going to look at the interdependence between bees, plants and humans, and we'll ask bee experts what Vermonters can do right now to help the bee populations.

One suggestion is to follow the "No Mow May" movement, which recommends letting lawns go unmowed for the month to increase food and habitat for pollinators.

We'll also talk about the trials and tribulations of managing hives with a longtime beekeeper and somebody who has been at it for a little over a year.

Our guests are:

  • Spencer Hardy, bee biologist,
  • Charles "Chas" Mraz, third-generation beekeeper at in Middlebury
  • Becca Worple, a beekeeper at in Jeffersonville

Broadcast live at noon on Friday, May 13, 2022.

Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or tweet us .

Mikaela Lefrak is the host and senior producer of Vermont Edition. Her stories have aired nationally on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, The World and Here & Now. A seasoned local reporter, Mikaela has won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Public Media Journalists Association award for her work.
Tedra worked on Vermont Edition as a producer and editor from 2022 to 2024.