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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Honey is just bee vomit -- and other fun facts about bees

    Most food relies on bees -- fruit, vegetables, nuts, and plants that animals eat. They’re all pollinated by the hard-working bee. But bees are dying, and their hives are disappearing. No one really knows why.

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    By Madeleine Brand • Aug 14, 2018 • 1 min read

    Most food relies on bees -- fruit, vegetables, nuts, and plants that animals eat. They’re all pollinated by the hard-working bee. But bees are dying, and their hives are disappearing. No one really knows why. Pesticides and climate change are chief suspects. Bees now have to be sent around the country to pollinate crops, such as the immense almond crop in California. We talk about the role of bees in the world, and what’s at stake if their numbers continue to plummet.

    The full episode

    4 of 5
    How bees play a crucial role in our food chain
    1. 0:00Can Bird save their scooters in Santa Monica?
    2. 9:16Why did Paul Manafort's defense team not call a witness on his behalf?
    3. 16:30The case for getting white people to voluntarily desegregate public schools
    4. 25:52Honey is just bee vomit -- and other fun facts about beesYou’re reading this
    5. 39:15Why TV writers' rooms are shrinking
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sarah Sweeney

      Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Michell Eloy

      Former Producer/Line Editor, Press Play

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Amy Ta

      Digital News & Culture Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Thor Hanson

      conservation biologist, and author “Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees”

      News

    The full episode

    4 of 5
    How bees play a crucial role in our food chain
    1. 0:00Can Bird save their scooters in Santa Monica?
    2. 9:16Why did Paul Manafort's defense team not call a witness on his behalf?
    3. 16:30The case for getting white people to voluntarily desegregate public schools
    4. 25:52Honey is just bee vomit -- and other fun facts about beesYou’re reading this
    5. 39:15Why TV writers' rooms are shrinking
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand