Bees: Another Thing to Worry About

A month or so ago, I saw a bit called “Bears and Balls” on the Colbert Report in which he told the Nation to invest in bees because they’re disappearing and no one knows where they’re going or why they’re gone. That got filed away somewhere in my worry locker but eventually got lost among forgotten worries like “envelopes laced with anthrax” and “razor blades hidden in Halloween candy.” But after a conversation at a party over the weekend, and reading this article, the bee dilemma has been brought to the forefront.

Honeybees are dying. No one knows why. At least not yet. Honeybee is a bit of a misnomer though, as they don’t just make honey but pollinate 90 percent of North America’s flowering crops. No more bees? No more apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. Forget about citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons.

About one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 per cent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Even cattle, which feed on alfalfa, depend on bees. So if the collapse worsens, we could end up being (stuck with grains and water,â€? said Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for USDA’s bee and pollination program.

(This is the biggest general threat to our food supply,� Hackett said.

Enjoy that salad.

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