A new report is out regarding the distressing rate of bee death these past few years, and the news isn’t good. The survey reports a loss of 36.1 percent of commercially raised bees within the past year. The loss from 2007 was about 32 percent. Experts estimate that about 29 percent of the bee deaths this year were due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which forces bees to abandon their hives, but is yet to be understood.

• Bee Crisis

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Below is a link to a nice summary, by Brian Walsh of Time magazine, of the current situation regarding the current emergency die-off of bees around the world, called ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ (CCD). It’s still not confirmed exactly what is causing this problem, and it may well be that a combination of factors are leading to the vanishing of the bees. So far, the various possibilities include a virus, such as the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), parasites such as the vampiric Varroa destructor, or tracheal mites, or pesticides such as the insecticide Imidacloprid. So far, there is enough evidence to doubt that any one of these causes is fully responsible for the devastation that has burned through bee hives in the United States and Europe. One thing is for certain, though, and that is we absolutely must make understanding the cause of CCD a very top priority, to save the bees, and everything the bees make possible for humans and the Earth.

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This blog has several entries relating the current disaster facing bees in the world, called ‘colony collapse disorder’. Bees are dying off at an alarming rate, but scientists have not been able to definitively name the reason(s). So much of nature is dependent on our little pollinators, the bees, that without them, we would be in a world of hurt. Most folks probably don’t think about how our food chain depends on the humble honey bee, but, it surely does, and agriculture, our economy and our diets will never be the same if this problem doesn’t go away. We humans have been very, very bad to bees.  The industrial agricultural way of doing things has many, many unsustainable aspects to it, but the bee problem may be the straw that breaks it.  Bees are trucked all over the place in the spring, in an exhausting race to pollinate crops and trees over huge geographical areas in the United States.  We don’t love the bees and the beekeepers anywhere near enough.  It appears that a group has gotten together and started to make a documentary about this very important issue called ‘The Vanishing of the Bees‘. You can view a trailer of the documentary, and, contribute to the movie funds if you are moved to help publicize this dire situation. The trailer is difficult to watch, very wrenching, but it’s necessary to get the word out, and the problem can’t be watered down for delicate sensibilities.  Maybe we should get Al Gore involved…

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I’ve written before on this blog about the recent honey bee crisis that has been evolving over the past year or more. Bees are disappearing and biologists don’t yet know why. One thing for sure is that honey bees are very hard workers, and in our society, they don’t seem to be appreciated enough by Joe Public, or by the government. The government needs to throw some funds in the direction of all of those hard-working scientists that are trying to help out the bees, which play a cornerstone role in our agriculture. We also need to do a better job of supporting those who raise and care for bee hives, because so much really depends on it, really! If taxes are good for something, honey bees would definitely hit the A list. Read on, for a very well-written article concerning the bee crisis.

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