Disappearing bees!
Something a little more serious this morning….In more than 24 states across the country, bees are disappearing at an alarming rate. According to Ann Johansson of the New York Times and other journalists across the country, this is not only threatening the livelihood of beekeepers, but is also a threat to many of our important crops, such as the almond industry in CA. Not to mention our entire food supply!
Researchers aren’t sure where the bees are going. Some hives have died off, some have simply vanished.
For sure, widespread pesticide spraying of agricultural crops can kill bees, as can small doses of spraying, such as a homeowner might do in their gardens or yards. That’s just another reason that organic gardening is friendly to the environment.
Our entire food supply relies on pollination by bees and other such insects. There are many alternatives to synthetic pesticides on the market today. Next time you’re at your local garden center, look for the natural or organic section…see what’s there, and follow the directions on the label.
dig it!
bobbi c.
disappearing bees, pollination, insects, natural gardening, organic gardening, food supply
February 28th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
I heard something about this today too. Another suggestion that was made was that the transportation of bees across the continent is helping to spread disease. There was something too about the bees being bred to have longer seasons, but I didn’t understand why that was a problem.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:13 am
Hi Derek,
Yep, for sure disease is a problem, too. There was some kind of mite that killed off a lot of the hives a few years ago down here in TX.
Also, some of the more aggressive non-native bees are moving in (as in the Africanized “killer bees”) and taking over some hives, driving the honey bees out.
Most experts think it’s a combo of climate change and chemicals such as pesticides.
bobbi c.
March 20th, 2007 at 8:50 am
[...] It seems that I was one of the first to report on the disappearing bees story, a few weeks ago. Since then, the story has blazed across the ‘net like wildfire, and many experts are getting worried that there might not be enough bees to pollinate all the food crops in the US. This is a serious matter! [...]
July 24th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I’ve been looking for a website that is collecting anecdotal reports about bee disappearances. I’ve had an infestation of carpenter bees (drilling holes in the side of my house) for as long as I’ve lived in my present home (over 11 years). They appear every spring, they’re around all summer, and though efforts have been made to convince them to relocate, they have always been continuously present and extremely plentiful. This year… no carpenter bees. Saw a few at the start of the spring, then…Poof. Gone. I wanted them to relocate, but their disappearance is nonetheless alarming, as nothing was done this year to deter them. They just… disappeared. If anyone knows of an organization collecting bee disappearance reports, please let me know. Oh…also… this spring, WiFi became available in my rural area for the first time.