This article examines how U.S large‐scale beekeepers explain and resolve the plight of the honey bee. Using in‐depth interviews with beekeepers and scientists, field notes, and qualitative online data, I find that while beekeepers invest in and hope for technoscientific developments, they are also sceptical of the promises of technoscience. I describe this paradox as a form of denial. As both agents and victims (with their bees) of industrial agriculture, they turn doubtfully to technoscience, which saves them from deconstructing and reconsidering the system they are an integral part of and benefit from. While technoscientific promises keep beekeepers hopeful and provide them with a sense of agency, they also prevent them from challenging the larger sociocultural mode of food production at the root cause of the plight of managed honey bees. In their attempt to save their bees and their livelihoods, beekeepers’ conversations are performed to fit the dominant technoscientific imaginary and fail to seriously consider causes and solutions in the larger eco‐social context.

中文翻译：

---

“我们对蜜蜂知之甚少！” 美国大型养蜂业的技术乐观，技术怀疑和拒绝

本文探讨了美国大型养蜂人如何解释和解决蜜蜂的困境。通过对养蜂人和科学家的深入采访，实地记录以及定性的在线数据，我发现养蜂人在投资并希望技术科学发展的同时，也对技术科学的前景持怀疑态度。我将此悖论描述为否认的一种形式。作为工业农业的代理人和受害人（以及他们的蜜蜂），他们怀疑地转向了技术科学，这使他们免于解构和重新考虑它们是不可或缺的一部分并从中受益的系统。技术科学的承诺使养蜂人充满希望并给他们以代理的感觉，但同时也阻止了他们挑战更大的社会文化食品生产模式，这是造成蜜蜂经营困境的根本原因。