If Bees Go Extinct, We All Do
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Here’s a quote from Albert Einstein: “if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” Well, guess what? The bees are disappearing. In massive numbers. All around the world. And if you think I’m being alarmist and that, “Oh, they’ll figure out some way to pollinate the plants…” No, they’ve tried. For a lot of what we eat, only bees work. And they’re not working. They’re gone. It’s called Colony Collapse Disorder, when the hive’s inhabitants suddenly disappear, and all that’s left are a few queens and some immature workers — like when a party winds down at Elton John’s house. Also, if your stinger stays up more than 48 hours, call your doctor.
But I think we’re the ones suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder. Because although nobody really knows for sure what’s killing the bees, it’s not al-Qaeda, and it’s not God doing some of his Old Testament shtick, and it’s not Winnie the Pooh. It’s us. It could be from pesticides, or genetically modified food, or global warming, or the high-fructose corn syrup we started to feed them. Recently it was discovered that bees won’t fly near cell phones — the electromagnetic signals they emit might screw up the bees navigation system, knocking them out of the sky. So thanks guy in line at Starbucks, you just killed us. It’s nature’s way of saying, “Can you hear me now?”
Mites seem to be killing most colonies but I wouldn’t be surprised if high-fructose corn syrup has a part. Something definitely needs to be done as even the Russian Bees that are being imported to the US because of their resistance to the mites are having problems maintaining their numbers.
This is the most scary thing I’ve heard lately. Spread the word by sharing this video with your friends.
You can also help by purchasing organic honey to give extra support to beekeepers with organic bee colonies that naturally forge for pollen.
If you come across any bees don’t kill them, we need them!
[The Birds, the Bees, and Earth Day]
[tags]bees, pollination, plants, food, earth, extinction, high-fructose corn syrup[/tags]
7 Comments
thatgrrl
April 26th, 2007
at 11:35pm
I’ve been listening to the talk about the bees. I hope it’s just a seasonal thing. Like some years are really good for one type of insect and they are everywhere while others are hard to find at all. One year it was ladybugs who were all over, couldn’t get through the day without seeing a dozen at the least. Another year is was earwigs, another year garden slugs, etc. Maybe this is just a low year for the bees. But it would be a good idea to reconsider using any pesticide this year as garden and lawn season begins.
Robert Glen Fogarty
April 27th, 2007
at 4:51am
Some think it’s the widespread use of cellphones that might be doing it!
http://tinyurl.com/2dmlyh
Steve Willson
April 27th, 2007
at 6:53am
It appears this is only affecting domesticated honeybees; which were imported to America from Europe centuries ago. Wild bee species (there are over 90 in the US alone) provide about 95% of pollination in the US. While this could certainly cause some problems for growers who count on using domesticated bees for maximum pollination efficiency (and thus maximum crop yields), it is not a disaster of epic proportions. African bees (so-called “killer bees”) are not affected at all and they’ve been interbreeding with our honeybees in the US since the early 1990’s.
I’m wondering if maybe we’ve “overdomesticated” our honeybees and they can’t handle diseases or parasites that wild bees take in stride.
Kate
April 27th, 2007
at 9:07am
There is probably a lot contributing to the demise of bees. One thing may be the constant encroachment of
humans and their incessant destruction of anything that grows wild. I’ve been thinking lately that I might lose my life to a Muslim with a bomb up his butt, but now I’m thinking starvation. There used to be a commercial on TV back in the day. It said….”Its not nice to fool Mother Nature”
Come on Scientists, find the problem and if its our cell phones lets pitch them into the nearest swamp provided we can find one. I rather eat than talk.
Robert Glen Fogarty
May 1st, 2007
at 9:48pm
An update!
http://tinyurl.com/27bmao
Me
May 16th, 2007
at 9:38pm
yeah that kinda scary!!
Terry
November 8th, 2008
at 11:26am
Not True. Organic beekeepers have been affected by Colony Collapse Disorder.
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/colony-collapse-disorder-55050802