I got this email this morning from a seed supplier that I deal with and wanted to share it to open the discussion on what could happen in the very near future. If you've been to the grocery store lately, then you know just how much food prices are skyrocketing. In fact, the money that got you four bags of groceries last year will get you only three bags this year. And now that gas prices are going up almost daily, food prices will shoot up even more. But now there's another, far more ominous reason to home garden. There's a threat emerging that is so potentially catastrophic, it could literally mean the collapse of commercial agriculture. The honeybees are disappearing. In the past few years, we've been hearing more and more about something called Colony Collapse Disorder - it's a fancy way of saying that the honeybees are dying, and we don't know why. But if the decline isn't reversed, the honeybee could well go the way of the dinosaur. <TABLE border=1 cellPadding=5 width=213 align=right height=150 hspace="5"><TBODY><TR><TD width=204> Some commercial beekeepers are losing as much as 90% of their bee population each season. Bees are essential to the pollination of over 90 different commercial crops.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> If that happens, our industrial farming system will completely collapse. Commercial farming depends on healthy honeybees. Bees pollinate over 90 different commercial crops. Without bees, we would not be able to enjoy things like grilled summer squash, crisp cold cucumbers, or sweet, delicious melon. Many people take good food like this for granted ... and now those foods are at grave risk. Giant farm conglomerates rent bees from commercial beekeepers to pollinate their hives. The hives are trucked to one region, released from the hive to pollinate the crops, and are packed up again and taken to the next region. But since 2003, more and more often, farmers have been opening up their hives to find dead bees or, more often, bees that just don't return to the hive. That means there are fewer bees to do more work ... which stresses the bee population even more. For a long time, despite numerous theories, nobody knew what the real cause was. But now we know. "Highly toxic" pesticide causing mass extermination of honeybees Late last year, a brave whistleblower leaked a memo from secret files at the Environmental Protection Agency. That memo was a smoking gun. For years, the EPA has known the true cause of the honeybee extinctions. The culprit is a chemical pesticide, clothianidin. Here's what the EPA's own internal memo said: "Clothianidin's major risk concern is to non-target insects (that is, honey bees). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. ...Information from standard tests and field studies ... suggest the potential for long-term risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects." This pesticide was approved by the EPA, despite warnings from some of its own best and brightest scientists. And today, it's used just as much as ever. If clothianidin were outlawed tomorrow, could the damage be reversed? We don't know. But we do know this: if the honeybee population isn't restored to healthy levels - and quickly - our nation, not to mention the world, could lose over 90 different crop varieties, because they could no longer be pollinated on a large scale
Color me NOT surprised. Only good thing about that is (hopefully) it will lead to a revamping of agriculture towards sustainable/non-toxic practices...not gonna hold my breath though, some people are determined to keep doing failed practices.
as long as they can make money, who cares who or what they kill id think you would all know that by now
a big thank you for the into on the bees .. i'm allways wanting to know where my food comes from to a point because now beening on a diet and now i have to keep track of my food intake and it toxins in the food because of haveing a problem between one food and my medication i have to take .. so i want to know what in my food and who grows it and what they use on it ..
We don't have honeybees around(that I've noticed), we only have mason bees. Even though they're still good pollinators, they don't make honey. But hey, nobody's perfect. I have thought about getting an apiary or two and add (honey)beekeeper to my list of skills.
have a decent sized hive in my roof the honey is awesome they seem to love my flower, fruit and veggie gardens working on building my own hives so i can move the bees out of the roof...lol they dont bother me, they ladn on me and ride around on my shoulders as i walk around and work but everyone that comes complains cuz they are right next to my front door
Mason bees we have are like that, they don't bother me, I don't bother them. Haven't seen as many as I used to though the last couple years, though there have been enough for my fruit trees. Could be due to the cold weather lasting so long(didn't start to warm up enough last year for tomato plants and other warm crops til the end of July), and it's fighting warmer weather again this year.
We have 4 hives and just pulled honey from two made 2 gallons... really sweet... and beats the taste of store bought to pieces...