NARROWSBURG – One third of the world's food crops rely on honey bees to pollinate them. Honey bee colonies in the U.S. have been decimated by about 60 percent over the last half century. With the entire food supply in danger, what's an average citizen to do? Dress up like a honey bee and get the word out.

Narrowsburg held its second annual Honey Bee Fest on Saturday, a colorful festival designed to celebrate the bee and educate the public about the threats honey bees are now facing.

Joan Santo, one of the festival's organizers and owner of Narrowsburg Fine Wine and Spirits, said the idea developed from the community's participation in Sullivan Renaissance beautification projects, in which Narrowsburg has won multiple awards for its flowers. Flowers and pollinators go hand-in-hand, Santo said, and with fellow organizer Charles Wilkin's experience as a beekeeper, the Honey Bee Fest was born.

Wilkin, owner of 2 Queens Honey and Tea, said he found his way into beekeeping eight years ago, when he was looking for something new and scary to do.

“I wanted to go sky diving and I ended up not doing that, and beekeeping was the next dangerous thing I wanted to do,” Wilkin said.

Beekeeping is of course not dangerous at all, Wilkin said, but it is addictive. And right now, it is incredibly important.

Honey bees are facing three primary threats, Wilkin explained. Vorra mites, essentially a bee tick; neonicotinoid insecticides that are used by large crop producers and are toxic to bees; and climate change. Climate change is creating shorter growing seasons, which make bees work harder and faster, and become more stressed.

During the festival, residents had opportunities to attend a panel discussion led by bee experts, take classes on beekeeping and bee-friendly gardening, and learn about honey extraction. Everyone can do some simple things to help bees, Wilkin said. Install a bird bath so traveling bees have a water source; plant pollinator-friendly flowers; and buy organic foods to ensure no toxic insecticides were used.

Just for fun, the festival tried to break the world record for most people in bee costumes. They didn't manage to the break the record–more than 2,100–but the 1,500 or so people wearing various forms of bee costumes looked like they had plenty of fun, anyway.