The Berkeley Bees

By Laura Ruane, Jeff Rowe, Jose Antonio Vargas, Kristyna Wentz-graff

Published May 21, 2006

A University of California Berkeley professor is striving to make cities more bee friendly.

Gordon Frankie spends his days on a quarter-acre plot near the university, figuring out what mix of plants in cities will provide the optimum bee habitat.

It's more than esoteric academia -- Africanized bees, mites and various ailments are killing the European honeybee, which are responsible for pollinating a third of the fruits and vegetables in our food suppy.

Moreover, our growing cities, expanding roads, airports and other developments traditionally have been bee hostile -- but Frankie wants to change that.

Bees matter, Frankie says -- unless we're content to eat mostly rice, wheat, corn and other foods pollinated by wind.

Here's a closer look at the work of the furry, buzzing, misunderstood bees and how Frankie and his research assistant are trying to persuade city people to be bee buddies.

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