12 Must See Ted Talks for Beekeepers

Ted is an organisation that posts talks online, their YouTube channel is full of great short talks about many unique topics.

TED is a media organization which posts talks online for free distribution, under the slogan “ideas worth spreading”. TED was founded in February 1984 as a conference, which has been held annually since 1990.

We sat down on rainy afternoon in the Waitakere ranges, and watched loads of Ted Talks about bees here are our top twelve.

We have added all of these to a Youtube Playlist on our channel. You will find the playlist HERE

While you are there please subscribe our YouTube channel for our amazing beekeeping videos. We plan on doing much more video in the future, so be the first to see what we produce to help you with your beekeeping.

If we missed your favorite Bee Ted Talk, please comment below and we might add it to the next version.

Want to add your favorite Beekeeping TedTalk

If you find another Ted or Tedx Talk that you love about beekeeping, please add it to the YouTube playlist and if it makes the top 12*, it will appear on the next version of this list.

Here is the playlist: Must See Ted Talks for Beekeepers

* The Top Twelve is based on YouTube Views

1…Anand Varma – The first 21 days of a bee’s life

We’ve heard that bees are disappearing. But what is making bee colonies so vulnerable? Photographer Anand Varma raised bees in his backyard ‘in front of a camera’ to get an up close view. This project, for National Geographic, gives a lyrical glimpse into a bee hive and reveals one of the biggest threats to its health, a mite that preys on baby bees in the first 21 days of life. With his incredible footage.

2…Louie Schwartzberg – The hidden beauty of pollination

Pollination: it’s vital to life on Earth, but largely unseen by the human eye. Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg shows us the intricate world of pollen and pollinators with gorgeous high-speed images from his film “Wings of Life,” inspired by the vanishing of one of nature’s primary pollinators, the honeybee.

3…Marla Spivak – Why bees are disappearing

Honeybees have thrived for 50 million years, each colony 40 to 50,000 individuals coordinated in amazing harmony. So why, seven years ago, did colonies start dying en masse? Marla Spivak reveals four reasons which are interacting with tragic consequences. This is not simply a problem because bees pollinate a third of the world’s crops. Could this incredible species be holding up a mirror for us?

4…Noah Wilson-Rich – How you can help save the bees, one hive at a time

Bees are dying off in record numbers, but ecologist Noah Wilson-Rich is interested in something else: Where are bees healthy and thriving? To find out, he recruited citizen scientists across the US to set up beehives in their backyards, gardens and rooftops. Learn how these little data factories are changing what we know about the habitats bees need to thrive — and keep our future food systems stable.

5…Marianne Gee – Want to change the world? Think like a bee

Marianne Gee has been asking herself the same question for years: “How to save the honeybees?” The simple answer is: You are insignificant, but your 1/12th of a teaspoon counts! From federal government employee to beekeeper? Meet the Bee Gal!

6…Dennis vanEngelsdorp – Where have the bees gone?

Bees are dying in droves. Why? Leading apiarist Dennis vanEngelsdorp looks at the gentle, misunderstood creature’s important place in nature and the mystery behind its alarming disappearance.

7…Sarah Red-Laird – We can save the bees together

Red-Laird transformed a childhood fascination with honeybees into an impassioned career as a research scientist, educator, conservationist and revered beekeeper. From her first taste of freshly harvested honeycomb at age three, through the undergraduate research program at the University of Montana, she cultivated the art and science of beekeeping. Today, Red-Laird is based in Ashland where she educates the next generation of honeybee keepers through her Kids and Bees program and the Southern Oregon University Beekeeping Club. She also helps farmers and other land managers conserve bee habitat.

8…Mat Welch – Life inside the beehive

Bees are essential to our life, but how much do we know about them? When we see a bee, do we imagine an animal that might harm us, or one that is helping to feed us?

9…Brandon Dawson – Save the bees! But how?

Brandon Dawson is a first year at Duke hoping to major in Public Policy Studies with a minor in Environmental Science. On campus, Brandon is involved with Duke Student Government and theater. Off campus, Brandon is a Guardian ad Litem with the Durham County Court System and a member of the Durham Beekeepers Association.

10… Noah Wilson-Rich – Every city needs healthy honey bees

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.)

11…Jonathan Drori – Every pollen grain has a story

Pollen goes unnoticed by most of us, except when hay fever strikes. But microscopes reveal it comes in stunning colors and shapes — and travels remarkably well. Jonathan Drori gives an up-close glimpse of these fascinating flecks of plant courtship.

12…Margaret Couvillon – Honey bee societies and dance floor democracy

Margaret Couvillon is a biologist at the University of Sussex, where she uses the unique waggle dance to investigate honey bee foraging.