The Importance of Earnest Bees
Colony Collapse Disorder Sweeping the Country
We’ve all had our own experiences with bees. They’ve come buzzing around from time to time. You may have been stung, or at least been frightened of stinging. Perhaps you’ve shooed them away, told them to ‘buzz off’, or just wished they would go away and leave you alone! But honestly never really expected them to leave for good. Just what is going on?
Honey Bees are disappearing in droves. Scientists and the media have dubbed the recent and sudden disappearance ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’. It’s happening all across the country, in Canada, India, Brazil and in parts of Europe. Bees are dying off, and other bees are just leaving the hive and not coming back, leading some to think that their navigation systems are being messed up somehow.
Why Care About the Bees?
Who cares? So what? The less bees to sting you, right? Bees are very important to agriculture. Over $15 billion worth of crops in the US alone are solely dependent on honey bee pollination, including strawberries and other fruits, almonds, and soybeans- a very important staple crop for huge parts of the American food supply- and, of course, honey. That’s a good chunk of your local grocer that needs the honey bees.
What to Do About it?
The honey bee forensics team has swung into action across the globe, with scientists, environmentalists, and beekeepers all trying to figure out what exactly is causing the disturbance with the bees. Some of the possibilities being thrown around include the use of pesticides, malnutrition, new diseases or parasites including a possible AIDS-like immunodeficiency disease in the bee population, global warming and climate change effects, the use of genetically modified crops, or perhaps it is a combination of a number of different causes coming together at this time to cause this collapse. The truth is, the experts just don’t know.
With the importance that the honey bee population plays in our world ecosystem, this is a very big issue. Hopefully we have enough experts working on this problem that we can see a solution before it’s too late for the bees. Maybe we’ll be lucky and the bees will come buzzing back in next year, not saying or giving any clue where they went, but just getting back to their busy little lives as usual. There’s the common debate out there about the End of the World. Will it come with a bang, or a whisper? Did anyone hear that low buzzing?
May 11th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
[...] 11th, 2007 Today I posted a new post on the missing honeybees and ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’. While it certainly has gotten plenty of press on NPR, [...]
May 12th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
[...] are a couple of articles on the issue to help you catch up. And Nomadhacker asks a very good [...]
May 16th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
[...] OK, everybody say, “Antioxidants“. Green tea has lots of everybody’s favorite free radical-fighting little wonders. Antioxidants are known to help limit cell damage due to oxidation and help in preventing everything from cancer, to neurodegenerative diseases to boosting immune system response. In other words, antioxidants are the ninja of health-boosting molecules. This is where the most testing has been done, and most of the evidence of the health benefits of green tea lie. For the antioxidant effect alone is reason enough to buddy up to the teacup.So, does green tea seem to have health benefits? Yes, green tea seems to be a very healthy drink, and be able to help boost your immune system and may help prevent certain diseases, but it also seems that this is another case where the hype may be more than the reality. Green tea, while good for you, can’t do anything on its own, and while it is probably a good idea to think of adding it to your diet, you need to have an all around healthy lifestyle to go with it.Research will march on, as it always does. And maybe someday green tea will provide us a key to a fabulous new cure to an incurable disease. In the meantime though, it still tastes great with honey. [...]
July 25th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title ortance of Earnest Bees | Nomadic Nation: Interesting Facts and Information. Thanks for informative article