Beekeeping Industry 'Doomed' -- Might We See Destruction of Food
Supply Before the End of This Decade?
June 08, 2013
Story at-a-glance
Bees have been dying off around the world for a decade now
from a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. A
third of the U.S. food supply depends on the honeybees
This year, the US experienced the highest losses of honeybee
populations so far, with most of the nation’s beekeepers
losing anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of their bee
population
Many of the 6,000 almond orchard owners in California could
not find enough bees to pollinate their almond trees, at any
price, this year
The collapse of bee colonies is probably multifactorial, but
a major factor is the toxicity of systemic pesticides called
nicotinoids, which kills insects by attacking their nervous
systems
In May, beekeepers and environmental groups filed a lawsuit
against the agency over its failure to protect bees from
toxic pesticides
For several years now, scientists have been struggling to
determine why bee colonies across the world are disappearing—a
phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD).
As reported by Dan Rather, the US has recently experienced
the highest loss of honeybee populations so far, with most of
the nation’s beekeepers losing anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of
their bee population.
Honeybees are perhaps one of the least recognized workers in
the agricultural industry. They contribute $15 billion in annual
agriculture revenue to the US economy alone, as a full one-third
of the American food supply depends on them pollinating crops.
Just about every fruit and vegetable you can imagine is
dependent on the pollinating services of bees. Apple orchards,
for instance, require one colony of bees per acre in order to be
adequately pollinated. So, unless the mysterious disappearance
of bees is reversed, major food shortages could result.
California Almond Orchards Threatened by Bee Loss
As discussed in Dan Rather’s report, 80 percent of the
world’s almonds come from California’s central valley, an
800,000 acre area of almond orchards that are 100 percent
dependent on bees pollinating the trees. Surprisingly, almonds
are the number one agricultural product in California.
Once a year, in late winter, 1.5 million bee hives from
around the country are delivered to these orchards where the
bees’ pollination efforts take place over the course of just a
few days. It’s the largest mass-pollination effort in the world.
This year, however, the unthinkable happened. Many of the
6,000 orchard owners simply could not find enough bees to
pollinate their almond trees, at any price... One of
the beekeepers featured in Rather’s report is John Miller,
President of the California state Beekepers Association. His
family has tended bees since 1894.
Of the 11,000 hives brought to California by Miller, hundreds
of hives turned out to be dead when opened up. According to
Miller, “the past 30 years have been tumultuous with 40 percent
of the national herd dying or dead.”
Another fourth generation beekeeper named Anderson lost 70
percent of his hives this year. Yet another outfit lost 100
percent of his bees...
Fortunately, unsurpassed efforts that included persuading
beekeepers as far away as Florida to ship their bees cross
country, delayed bloom, and unseasonably good weather thereafter
allowed almond growers to dodge the bullet—this
year—despite having fewer and weaker-than-ever hives...
This narrowly-achieved success may lead some to reach the
mistaken conclusion that beekeepers’ concerns are overblown.
Don’t be fooled. One beekeeper goes so far as to say he
believes the beekeeper industry is doomed and cannot survive for
more than another two to three years unless drastic
changes are implemented...
What’s Causing Bees to Die?
Proposed culprits of bee colony collapse disorder include:
Pesticides and insecticides—Nicotinoids
such as Imidacloprid and Clothianidin kills insects by
attacking their nervous systems. These are known to get into
pollen and nectar, and can damage beneficial insects such as
bees.
Malnutrition/Nutritional deficiencies—Many
beekeepers place the hives near fields of identical crops,
which may result in malnutrition as the bees are only
getting one type of nectar. Essentially, this theory is
identical to that of human nutrition; we need a wide variety
of nutrients from different foods. If you keep eating the
same limited range of foods, you can easily end up suffering
from nutritional deficiencies. Poor nutrition suppresses
immune function, making the bees far more susceptible to
toxins from pesticides, viruses, fungi, or a combination of
factors that ultimately kill them.
Viruses and fungi—There's even the
possibility that some new form of "AIDS-like" viral
infection is affecting the bees.
Electromagnetic fields (EMFs)—Researchers
have discovered that when a cellular phone is placed near a
hive, the radiation generated by it (900-1,800 MHz) is
enough to prevent bees from returning to them, according to
a study conducted at Landau University several years ago.1
This result was duplicated in 2009 by
Sainuddeen Pattazhy, a researcher and dean in the
department of zoology at SN College, Punalur, Kerala. His
experiments showed that microwaves from mobile phones appear
to interfere with worker bees' navigation skills. When cell
phones were placed near beehives, the hives collapsed
completely in five to 10 days. The worker bees simply failed
to return home.
More recently, a study2
published in 2011 found that the presence of microwaves from
cell phones have a dramatic effect on bees, causing them to
become quite disturbed.
Lack of natural foraging areas—Mass
conversions of grasslands to corn and soy in the Midwest
has dramatically reduced bees’ natural foraging areas
EPA Blamed for Failure to Protect Bees
A general consensus among beekeepers is that the bee die-offs
are most definitely related to toxic chemicals. Increasingly, a
systemic type of pesticide called neonicotinoids is being blamed
for bee die-off’s. Neonicotinoids are now used on most of
American crops, especially corn. This newer class of chemicals
is applied to seeds before planting, allowing the pesticide to
be taken up through the plant’s vascular system as it grows. As
a result, the chemical is expressed in the pollen and nectar of
the plant.
These insecticides are highly toxic to bees because they are
systemic, water-soluble, and pervasive. They get into the soil
and groundwater where they can accumulate and remain for many
years and present long-term toxicity to the hive.
Neonicotinoids affect insects' central nervous systems in
ways that are cumulative and irreversible. Even minute amounts
can have profound effects over time. One of the observed effects
of these insecticides is weakening of the bee's immune system.
Forager bees bring pesticide-laden pollen back to the hive,
where it's consumed by all of the bees. Six months later, their
immune systems fail, and they fall prey to secondary, seemingly
"natural" bee infections, such as parasites, mites, viruses,
fungi and bacteria.
The disappearance of bee colonies began accelerating in the
United States shortly after the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) allowed these new insecticides on the
market in the mid-2000s. Last month, beekeepers and
environmental groups filed a
lawsuit against the agency over its failure to protect bees
from these toxic pesticides.
Meanwhile, France has banned Imidacloprid for use on corn and
sunflowers after reporting large losses of bees after exposure
to it. They also rejected Bayer´s application for Clothianidin,
and other countries, such as Italy, have banned certain
neonicotinoids as well.
The EPA3
acknowledges that “pesticide poisoning” may be one factor
leading to colony collapse disorder, yet they have been slow to
act to protect bees from this threat. The current lawsuit may
help spur them toward more urgent action, which is desperately
needed as the food supply hangs in the balance.
In March, according to Dan Rather’s report, the EPA sent Jim
Jones, overseer of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention, to talk to California almond growers and beekeepers.
But although beekeepers said Jones got the message that bees are
in serious trouble, they were dismayed by the fact that he
seemed more interested in finding new places for bees to forage
rather than addressing the issue of toxic pesticides...
As usual, at the core of the problem is big industry, which
is blinded by greed and enabled by a corrupt governmental system
that permits the profit-driven sacrifice of our environment.
Unfortunately, this motivation reflects an extreme
shortsightedness about the long-term survival of the human race,
as well as of our planet. Clearly, if the goal of pesticides
is to increase food yield to more easily feed 7 billion human
beings, this goal falls flat on its face if it leads to the
collapse of our food chain.
Do You Trust Monsanto to Solve the Bee Colony Collapse Problem?
Another forerunning theory of colony collapse disorder (CCD)
is that it's being caused by genetically engineered crops—either
as a result of the crops themselves or the pesticides and
herbicides applied on them, such as Roundup. In one German
study,4
when bees were released in a genetically engineered rapeseed
crop, then fed the pollen to younger bees, scientists discovered
the bacteria in the guts of the young ones mirrored the same
genetic traits as ones found in the GE crop, indicating that
horizontal gene transfer had occurred.
Chemical companies like Monsanto are clearly seeking to take
as much control of the food supply as possible by controlling
virtually every aspect of crop production, so research
implicating their business as the cause of bee die-offs would
definitely cause harm to the company's bottom line. Monsanto has
received increasing amounts of bad publicity over their
potential role in the devastating demise of bees around the
globe.
To better field such lines of inquiry, the company appears to
have taken measures to control the direction of the research
into their products' effect on bees by purchasing one of the
leading bee research firms – one that, conveniently, lists its
primary goal as studying colony collapse disorder. Monsanto
bought the company, called
Beeologics, in September 2011, just months before Poland
announced it would ban growing of Monsanto's genetically
modified MON810 maize, noting, poignantly, that "pollen of this
strain could have a harmful effect on bees.”5
Rodale Institute Tackles Bee Problem
I recently visited the Rodale Institute and got a tour of
their brand new
Honeybee Conservancy and research facility. As reported on
their website:6
“The 2013 Conservancy has a new physical arrangement
and a whole new set of beds that include nectar plants that
bloom throughout the season and incorporate biodynamic
principles... We’ll be looking at the impacts of compost,
compost extracts and biodynamic preparations on the health
and vitality of the plants.”
How You Can Help Protect the Bees
If you would like to learn more about the economic, political
and ecological implications of the worldwide disappearance of
the honeybee, check out the documentary film
Vanishing of the Bees. If you’d like to get
involved, here are four actions you can take to help preserve
and protect our honeybees:
Support organic farmers and shop at local farmer's
markets as often as possible. You can "vote with your fork"
three times a day. (When you buy organic, you are making a
statement by saying "no" to GMOs and toxic pesticides.)
Cut the use of toxic chemicals in your house and on your
lawn, and use only organic, all-natural forms of pest
control.
Better yet, get rid of your lawn altogether and plant a
garden or other natural habitat. Lawns offer very little
benefit for the environment. Both flower and vegetable
gardens provide excellent natural honeybee habitats.
Become an amateur beekeeper. Having a hive in your
garden requires only about an hour of your time per week,
benefits your local ecosystem, and you can enjoy your own
honey!
Worldofbeekeping.com,7
and
beekeeping.org8
are but two websites that can help you get started.
If you are interested in more information about bee
preservation, the following organizations are a good place to
start.