As many of you, our well educated readers undoubtedly know, starting in 2006, many beekeepers started reporting mysterious disappearance of huge numbers of their bees. One day they would fly off, with 30- 70% never returning again. These losses, caused by a poorly understood malady called Colony Collapse Disorder, have been so severe that 23% of beekeepers in 2006-2007 were effected.
This problem proves yet again how dependent we are with nature, and how our lives are truly intertwined with the well being of the planet. After all, one-third of the food we eat is pollinated by the honeybee. According to The Independent, 90 or so crops they pollinate each year are worth over $14.6 billion dollars in the U.S. alone.
Since the 1980s, our destruction of habitat and misuse of pesticides have caused bee (and other insect populations to decline). But nothing like this, which is killing bees at such a scale that it may actually threaten our food supply.
Luckily, there is some good news. First, a team of scientists from the Columbia University , Pennsylvania State University, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Arizona, and 454 Life Sciences has found a significant connection between the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and colony collapse disorder. This is a great breakthrough, although the findings are not yet conclusive, from what I could tell.
Secondly, organizations of all types are pitching in to help. From Burt’s Bees, to Häagen-Das
to the USDA, many different groups are working to ensure that honeybees keep on pollinating, and so too can you!
What can you do? Here are a few ideas:
- Don’t pesticides indiscriminately. Honey bees are out mid-day foraging for nectar, and that’s the worst time to use them.
- Plant good nectar sources such as red clover, foxglove, bee balm, and joe-pye weed. Choose flowers that bloom successively over the spring, summer, and fall seasons such as coreopsis, Russian sage, or germander. For more info, the USDA recommends www.nappc.org.
- You can actually raise your own bees! Actually, as it turns out, and much to my surprise, beekeeping as a hobby is alive and well. The best way to get started is to visit a local beekeeping association, which you may be able to find through a simple Google search.
Thanks to Scarlett at feedcompany.com for the great post suggestion!
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