Be(e)coming pollinators: Beekeeping and perceptions of environmentalism in Massachusetts.

Brian J Gareau,Sandra Didonato,Daniel De Paiva Silva

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0263281

Abstract

In an era of mass extinction and biodiversity crisis, it is increasingly crucial to cultivate more just and inclusive multispecies futures. As mitigation and adaption efforts are formed in response to these crises, just transitions forward require intentional consideration of the hybrid entanglement of humans, human societies, and wider landscapes. We thus apply a critical hybridity framework to examine the entanglement of the pollinator crisis with the cultural and agricultural practice of hobbyist beekeeping. We draw on ethnographic engagements with Massachusetts beekeepers and find apiculture to be widely understood as a form of environmentalism—including as both a mitigation to and adaptation for the pollinator crisis. Illustrating how power-laden socioecological negotiations shape and reshape regional environments, we then discuss how this narrative relies on the capitalistic and instrumental logics characteristic of Capitalocene environmentalisms. These rationalities, which obscure the hybridity of landscapes, consequently increase the likelihood of problematic unintended consequences. Also present, however, is a deeper engagement with hybrid perspectives, with some beekeepers even offering pathways toward inclusive solutions. We conclude that if more just and biodiverse futures are to be realized, beekeeping communities must foster increasingly hybrid visions of apiculture as situated within socioecological and contested landscapes.

Highlights

In an era marked by mass extinctions and biodiversity crises, it is increasingly crucial to intentionally cultivate more inclusive and just multispecies landscapes [1, 2]
As mitigation and adaption efforts are formed in response to these crises, we must intentionally consider the hybrid entanglement of humans, human societies, and wider landscapes; these problems must not be understood as environmental, but as socioecological [5]
Instead of addressing the root causes of pollination concerns, honey bees were widely introduced as an “instrument” of pollination—a powerful application of instrumental rationality that continues through today

Summary

Introduction

In an era marked by mass extinctions and biodiversity crises, it is increasingly crucial to intentionally cultivate more inclusive and just multispecies landscapes [1, 2]. In the late 19th century, after decades of widespread urban development and the increasing industrialization of agricultural practices, U.S farmers began to notice widespread bee declines [19, 22–24]. Farmers began to introduce honey bees to their fields during crop bloom [22–24]. Commercial honey bee pollination was later solidified as a widespread norm in the post-WWII era when commercial agriculture became increasingly dominated by high mechanization, monocultures, and largely unregulated agrochemicals [23, 93]. Instead of addressing the root causes of pollination concerns, honey bees were widely introduced as an “instrument” of pollination—a powerful application of instrumental rationality that continues through today

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Conclusion