Skip to main content

Every city needs healthy honey bees - Noah Wilson-Rich

40,970 Views

3,783 Questions Answered

TED Talk

Let’s Begin…

Bees have been rapidly and mysteriously disappearing from rural areas, with grave implications for agriculture. But bees seem to flourish in urban environments -- and cities need their help, too. Noah Wilson-Rich suggests that urban beekeeping might play a role in revitalizing both a city and a species. (Filmed at TEDxBoston.)

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear.
Urban beekeeping is the practice of beekeeping in an urban environment. It has become popular in cities such as New York and London, which saw a 220% increase in beekeepers between 1999 and 2012 and and the practice recently became legalized in many American cities, including New York.
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in the reproduction of plants, thereby enabling fertilization and sexual reproduction.
Best Bees Company provides and manages honey bee hives for gardeners in rural, suburban, and urban habitats. Best Bees presents a unique opportunity to anyone interested in these important little creatures, either for their role as pollinators of over 130 crops, or because their population numbers are on the decline.
Varroa destructor can only reproduce in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee by sucking hemolymph.

Green City Growers install and maintain urban farms and vegetable gardens in Boston while teaching clients how to grow food using their own backyards or rooftops.
In his TED Talk, Dennis van Engelsdorp, Acting State Apiarist for Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture, talks about his study of colony collapse disorder -- the alarming, worldwide disappearance of worker bees and Western honey bees.

Next Section »

About TED Talk Lessons

TED Talk Lessons are created by TED-Ed using phenomenal TED Talks. Do you have an idea for a lesson? Create it now using any video from YouTube »

Meet The Creators

  • Speaker Noah Wilson-Rich

More from Awesome Nature