The Bees' Needs

Nature's Genius - collage

I did a quick search of my blog and to my astonishment discovered that I've never written about Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries.  Then it's about time that I do. First, I have to say this is one series that I haven't gotten bored with. Over the years I have encountered mystery series that have gotten predictable with their plot lines, but Leon has managed to keep her novels fresh with a variety of themes imbedded in her work, most recently those that center around nature and ecological issues (Guardian article - "Why I became an eco-detective writer).

Leon's novels have provided me with an armchair trip to Venice where Guido Brunetti lives and works as a Commissario in the police force. He is married to Paola, a professor of English literature with a focus on the works of Henry James, and father to a son and daughter. Leon gives us insight to Brunetti's character through his interactions with his family. His has a strong and loving marriage and manages to parent fairly successfully his teenagers. Oh and Paola manages to have time to cook these wonderful family meals (there's even a cookbook).

The newest in the series, Earthly Remains, finds Brunetti in need of a break from the job. On the advice of his doctor he takes two weeks off from work. Paola's uncle has a villa on an island in the Venetian lagoon where Brunetti goes to be by himself to read, swim, and row. The caretaker, Davide Casati, turns out to be an old friend of Brunetti's late father, and the two men take to rowing daily. While out in the lagoon, Casati shows Brunetti the habitats of birds and animals, and the tiny mounds of land where Casati raises bees. But the bees are dying.

Bees all around the world have been threatened. Colony collapse disorder (CCD) was first noticed in 2006 here in the United States. This is a huge concern as the honeybee is one of the major pollinators for our food crops - without them we wouldn't eat. Bees can fall victim to parasites like the varroa mite, fungus, changes in the climate, herbicides and pesticides. Leon in her novel focuses of the suspected dumping of toxic substances into the Venetian lagoon which in turn is impacting the bees, lowering the number of species of birds, and increasing the rates of cancer in humans. Her novel is a warning to us about the chemicals we have created - many of which are never tested for safety until there is an issue. Think back to Rachel Carson and her dire warnings against DDT in her book Silent Spring. By the early 1970s the use of DDT was banned here in the States, however, we still produce it for use in other parts of the world.

We need to be cognizant of what the chemicals, which make our lives "easier", are doing to us and our world. There has never been a time to be more concerned about protecting not only the bees, but our water and air resources.

I suggest reading The Beekeeper's Lament by Hannah Nordhaus. I was fascinated to learn about colony collapse disorder, and the major industry that centers around providing bees to farmers in order to pollinate food crops around our country.