This is the third update I’ve made today. Be sure to scroll down and read the other two, or not. No pressure.
The story states: “We wouldn’t starve if the mysterious disappearance of bees, dubbed colony collapse disorder, or CCD, decimated hives worldwide. For one thing, wheat, corn, and other grains don’t depend on insect pollination.
‘But in a honeybee-less world, almonds, blueberries, melons, cranberries, peaches, pumpkins, onions, squash, cucumbers, and scores of other fruits and vegetables would become as pricey as sumptuous old wine. Honeybees also pollinate alfalfa used to feed livestock, so meat and milk would get dearer as well. Ditto for farmed catfish, which are fed alfalfa too.”
There is a lot of information in this story about the possible causes of CCD, none of which is the definitive answer. It may be that CCD is a natural disaster that occurs from time to time, or it could be a particularly obnoxious virus, overuse of insecticides on plants that bees pollenate, or a few other potential causes. The story has a lot of information on how bee hives function and the particular job of all the bees, which I found fascinating.
One thing I learned that I didn’t know about is that colonies of bees are trucked all over the country to pollenate crops. That’s insane! It’s also extremely harmful to the bees because they often die in overheated truck compartments. Now that healthy bee populations are in peril, this cross-country trucking madness is more commonplace and endangers more colonies. It’s as if we actually ENJOY shooting ourselves in the foot.
READ the story. LEARN. Pay attention to the natural world around you.
s.
Filed under: colony collapse disorder, honeybees
