b'Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market\\nDonate to the Podcast\\xa0via PayPal\\xa0-or-\\xa0Venmo @permaculturepodcastJoin Our Community of Patrons on Patreon\\xa0\\nWant to listen to more conversations about Permaculture?\\xa0Browse the extensive archives of the show.\\xa0\\n40% of all insect species have declined globally in recent decades, and a third of those are considered endangered. The impacts that wild insects have on our lives are incalculable, while the benefit to humanity by domesticated honeybees is measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars.\\nWith this decline in insect populations, including the bees that pollinate our food, what can we do? Searching for answers and to understand what was leading to a bee decline, several years ago I reached out to Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a research scientist and associate professor of entomology at the University of Maryland and the former Chief apiarist for Pennsylvania to find out more.Resources:\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nDennis vanEnglesdrop, PhD\\nDennis vanEnglesdorp: A Plea for Bees (TED Talk Video)\\nBee Informed Partnership\\nCrop Pollination Exposes Honey Bees to Pesticides Which Alters Their Susceptibility to the Gut Pathogen Nosema ceranae\\n\\nRelated Interview\\nOwen Wormser - Turning Lawns into Meadows'