Mysterious, Massive Death of Bees

Since September 2006 we have received very disturbing reports about a wide-spread die-off of honey bees.  Severe losses have been reported in twenty_four US states and in some parts of Europe and Canada.

This is extremely serious and we urge readers to pay attention to this subject and investigate it for themselves.  For decades, canaries were used to test air quality in mine shafts.  If the canary died due to lack of oxygen or toxic gases, the miners knew is was time to evacuate the mine.  Albert Einstein once said, "If the bee disappears off the surface of the globe, then man would have four years left to live."

This silent cataclysm may well be happening right in front of our eyes.

In the U.S., 90% of the wild bee population is gone. Studies in Great Britain and the Netherlands report that wild bee species have declined 80% and that there is a danger of extinction.  These studies also noted that the number of wildflowers that depend on pollination has declined 70%.  We don't yet have solid numbers for Latin and South America, but in some parts of Canada losses of domesticated bees are up to 90%.

This phenomenon has been given the name "Colony Collapse Disorder" (CCD)

Beekeeper David Hackenberg recently checked on his 400 hives in Ruskin, Ontario to discover that all but 36 were completely empty.  Normally,  if there's a problem in the hive, the floor is covered with the dead bees. With Colony Collapse Disorder, the hives are just empty.  The bees have simply disappeared. 

Scientists and other observers are trying to be conservative side and not to raise panic, but this may be counter-productive.  The potential implications to the world’s food supplies are so enormous, we believe this matter deserves urgent and widespread publicity and action.

What is causing this death of the bees?  There is no conclusive answer as yet, however there are strong indications that certain insecticides and herbicides may be to blame.  Genetically-modified food crops may also be a factor.  It seems there is something in most affected hives which repels the usual scavengers: other bees and certain insects.  And so the empty hives full of honey sit untouched...

A recent report from the Canadian National Research Council noted that in order to bear fruit, three_quarters of all flowering plants; including most food crops such as apples, pears, tangerines, peaches, soybeans, pumpkins, squash, cucumber, all kinds of berries, carrots, broccoli and avocados _can only be pollinated by bees; in fact 90% of all commercially grown field crops depend on bee pollination: no pollination - no crops! 

That figure represents $15,000,000,000. worth of crops; that is more then 1/3 of the world’s food consumption.

Please take sometime to read the reports here and at the links given, as well as researching this matter yourselves. 

If this collapse of bee populations continues and cannot be reversed, the potential effect on human life is almost incalculable; and will not be long delayed!


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http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1230&category=Environment