Saving the Bees with Jennifer Han & Nick Naeger

Today we are joined by two of the leading pioneers in apiary (beekeeping) sciences and how fungi are being applied to help fight off pests and support the immune systems of the vital honeybee. Fungi have shown up time and time again as a promising companion to improve our relationship with the planet as consumers, and today's topic is a heavy reckoning with honeybee colony collapse. We first discuss how we rely on honeybees for the incredible contribution they make to wildlife biodiversity and modern agriculture.  Jennifer and Nick then get into the weeds of the many hardships that these bee colonies are facing and the detrimental impacts that are already happening. Inspired by Paul Stamet's observation of bees foraging on the mushrooms bed at Fungi Perfecti, Jennifer and Nick's lab have worked on a number of mushroom extracts for honeybee longevity. Additionally, they have pioneered some the important work of combating varroa mites with a well known soil dwelling fungus and mycopesticide — metarhizium anisopliae.