Bee Collapse a Bigger Threat To Crops Than Global Warming?
This Thursday, Multnomah County and City of Portland leaders will brief the public on the progress of our Local Action Plan on Global Warming. But last night, as my family settled down to watch Nature: Silence of the Bees, I began to worry that honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) might wipe out our flowering food crops before Global Warming has a chance to fry them.
From Nature's website:
"In the winter of 2006/2007, more than a quarter of the country's 2.4 million bee colonies -- accounting for tens of billions of bees -- were lost to CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder. This loss is projected have an $8 billion to $12 billion effect on America's agricultural economy, but the consequences of CCD could be far more disastrous.
The role honeybees play in our diet goes beyond honey production. These seemingly tireless creatures pollinate about one-third of crop species in the U.S. Honeybees pollinate about 100 flowering food crops including apples, nuts, broccoli, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, celery, squash and cucumbers, citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, melons, as well as animal-feed crops, such as the clover that's fed to dairy cows. Essentially all flowering plants need bees to survive."
The program last night described the sudden collapse of honey bee colonies as "death by a thousand pricks". The theory goes that bee importation and pesticide use has weakened bee populations enough to make colonies extra susceptible to viral infection although no definitive cause of CCD has been found. Also alarming news: most of the world's pollinators (butterflies, other bees, birds) are struggling to survive. Once honeybees are gone, there are no other pollinators that can step in to replace the vast amount of work honeybees do. One scientist joked (sort of) that if we didn't find the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, in a few decades we'd be eating gruel for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
So, now that I've added another item to your list of gloom and doom to worry about, mosey on over to Nature's website and take a look at what you can do in your own backyard to keep our local honey bees healthy. If you get really inspired, check out the Oregon Beekeepers Association. If you decide to try your hand at backyard bee-keeping, Multnomah County is the agency that issues permits.
Give bees a chance.
Posted on October 29, 2007
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