A tragedy, noticeably starting as many as six years ago, has suddenly escalated since October 2006. What was noticed six years ago was the steady disappearance in numbers of our natural pollinators—those insects, birds, and bats that cause our flowers to become fruits.
Since October 2006, a massive disappearance of honeybees on an unprecedented scale has occurred. One Midwestern beekeeper, who had 13,000 healthy hives as of November 2006, has now lost 96 percent of his bees, and is facing bankruptcy.
Although scattered areas have been afflicted with bee mites, in this mysterious disaster, called Colony Collapse Disorder, whole colonies disappear hardly leaving a bee to be analyzed. Not only is a bee not to be found, but also the beebread, honey, and wax, usually scavenged by other insects, are left untouched. Colonies in 24 states including New York, California, and most of the southern states, plus Spain and Poland are afflicted. Jerry Hayes, Chief, Apiary Section, Florida Department of Agriculture, says, "My question is: Are honeybees the canary in the coal mine? What are honeybees trying to tell us that we humans should be paying more attention to?"
Bees have been under stress for many years, plagued by mites, stress from cross-country travel for pollination, and a corn syrup diet. Fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides weaken bees' immune systems which are already less substantial than other insects'. Urban sprawl with its chemicalized lawns usurping meadows and woodlands is another bee hazard.
Genetically modified plants have herbicidal and insecticidal genes that have been found transmitted to the gut bacteria of young bees that haven't left the hive, according to a German study. Because viruses are used to transmit genes from one organism to another, this has led to an unnatural open door between species through which genes can slip.
At this time there is no answer and many environmental possibilities. Hayes speculates further: "The interesting thing about the Colony Collapse Disorder is that bees are leaving the colony and not coming back, which is highly unusual for a social insect to leave a queen and its brood or young behind. They are seemingly going out and can't find their way back home. Imidacloprid, when it is used to control termites, does exactly the same thing. One of the methods it uses to kill termites is that the termites feed on this material and then go out to feed and can't remember how to get home. And it also causes their immune systems to collapse, causing what would be normal organisms to become pathogenic in them (bees)." Imidaclorprid is also used as an insecticide on plants."
In United States there are 130 million acres of genetically modified crops, which make it possible to use lots of herbicide without killing the crops. There are also plants with insecticidal genes that attract bees. Bees work ceaselessly to supply us with about 14 billion dollars worth of food. Someone estimated that about one third of what we eat is made possible by bees. Fans, helicopters, and other methods have been unsatisfactory substitutes for pollination.
Sources:
Are GM Crops Killing Honeybees?
Honey Bee Disappearances Continue: Could Pesticides Play A Role?
The Mysterious Disappearance of Honey Bees
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