One in three bites of food you eat exists because a bee pollinated it. Almonds, avocados, blueberries, coffee, stone fruits - none of them would exist without pollinators. And right now, Australia's bee population is facing its most serious threat in history.
Frewoini Baume has been around bees her entire life. As a 4th generation beekeeper from regional NSW, she grew up understanding that bees are not just honey producers - they are the foundation of our food system and a critical barometer of ecosystem health. Her passion took her across the globe, from facilitating the First Pacific Islands Beekeeping Congress in Fiji to researching bee species with the Ramsey Research Foundation across Taiwan, Mongolia and Central Asia.
In this episode, Lottie sits down with Frewoini to talk about why bees matter far more than most people realise, what the arrival of varroa mite in Australia means for our food security, and what she witnessed in Pacific communities already adapting to climate change - communities who depend on healthy ecosystems to survive. She also talks about what ordinary Australians can do right now to support pollinators, and why the future of beekeeping - and our food system - depends on knowledge being shared collectively.
This is the sustainability conversation that quite literally underpins everything we eat.
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