Even if you don’t like insects much one-on-one, you might want to spare a thought for the world’s bees a couple of times every day, especially when you are eating.
Consider trying to replace bees in just one field of flowering plants. What machine might you use to mix the pollen of thousands of flowers? Imagine paying people to choose the best flowers and transport tiny particles from flower after flower. While they’re at it, maybe your overworked employees could gather tiny drops of nectar and make a couple of bottles of honey.
Some estimates put the amount of food that we owe to bees at a third. That's one-in-three bites we owe to those buzzing insects that fly and communicate with each other with complicated, descriptive dances.
Disappearing Bees If you like bees, you are probably worried about them. They are vanishing. Gone entirely, mysteriously leaving behind their queen and their young.
It’s happened before but not so drastically. The problem is common enough to warrant a name – colony collapse disorder or CCD and it’s startling.
CCD started getting attention in 2006 after lots of Western honey bees went missing in North America. Europe started seeing a problem with several countries concerned about bee health, including reports of a 50% drop in Ireland.
Here are some interesting links on our partner, the bee, starting with a video from Dennis vanEngelsdorp, who would prefer that you step away from your lawnmower.
Other Links:
$15 Billion Bee Murder Mystery Deepens
October 12, 2010 It was the buzz heard round the world. On Thursday, the front-page New York Times article titled, “Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery” was supposed to close the book on a four-year long case involving the unexplained death of millions of honey bees nationwide. Instead, it has only brought more confusion, unanswered questions, and anger in the science and beekeeping . . .
Beekeepers want government to pull pesticide
December 9th, 2010 Beekeepers and environmentalists Wednesday called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remove a pesticide that could be linked to colony collapse disorder from the market and to issue an order to stop its use. The request to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson from the American Beekeeping Federation, headed by Florida beekeeper Dave Mendes, and five other groups follows the leak of a Nov. 2 EPA
GLOBAL BEE EMERGENCY – ACT NOW!
Sign a petition to “immediately ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides until and unless new independent scientific studies prove they are safe. The catastrophic demise of bee colonies could put our whole food chain in danger. If you act urgently with precaution now, we could save bees from extinction.”
Bee on Wikipedia
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila. There are nearly 20,000 known . . .
British Beekeepers’ Association to stop endorsing bee-killing pesticides|
The British Beekeepers' Association hastoday announced plans to end its controversial practice of endorsing pesticides in return for cash from leading chemical manufacturers. The endorsement of four products as "bee-friendly" in return for £17,500 a year caused outrage among many beekeepers because one of the companies, Bayer Crop Science, makes pesticides that are widely
