Virtuous Bees: How Beekeeping Helps Protect Primary Forests in the Russian Far East

Abstract

Forest beekeeping is an example par excellence of a sustainable rural enterprise, providing many benefits to trees, humans, and honeybees. It offers a good way for local communities to create income from natural resources without damaging them. In the context of the primary forests of the Russian Far East, forest beekeeping depends on the well-being of nectar-giving linden trees, which have been logged over permitted volumes and soon will be lost entirely. Primorsky forest beekeepers have become the natural allies of environmentalists and have a strong interest in the stewardship of the land and forests.