Shore Medical Center Farmers Market and Craft Fair | Page 15

Honey bees do much more than make honey, and many crops throughout the world depend on their pollination. In fact, the USDA estimates that honey bees add over $15 billion to the value of crops in the USA. That kind of natural "service" can't be replicated, which is why it's important that honey bee populations are disappearing.

A USDA study claims that nearly one in every three bites of food in your diet comes directly or indirectly from honey bee pollination. That includes many types of food: berries, nuts, vegetables and many more. Almonds alone use about 60% of the country's surviving bee colonies.

Pictured Below: Each year Gary will travel to exotic places like Nicaragua and Guatemala to meet with beekeepers and learn new techniques that he can bring to his own business here in the states.

Some of these photos are of Gary working with beekeepers near Antigua, Guatemala. This apiary, way back in the jungle, had 1200 hives. The owner has 5000 hives. These are mostly Africanized Bees, which are much more aggressive. Gary said that it was exhilarating & amazing to work with them.

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