Worry About Disappearing Honey Bees Not Polar Bears 01

  Many people are worried that the cute furry polar bear will lose its ice habitat due to global warming later in this century. The polar bear does not have a real problem today, but many people worry about their future without ice nevertheless. The same concern is shared about global warming's undesirable future impact on tigers, penguins, turtles, birds, and many other species later in this century and next.

  However, few people seem very concerned about the more immediate crisis of the disappearing honey bee. It may be hard to get the same popular concern for a species that can leave people with an unpleasant sting. Indeed, the honey bee can be somewhat annoying at the cookout or picnic. They are certainly not the cute, furry, white, ice-bound inhabitants that are identified so clearly with a warming climate. The reality though is that the problems in the hives of the honey bee are far more important to us. The disappearance of the honey bee certainly deserves more immediate attention and concern than the potential problems that the polar bear and other species may experience later in this century. The pollination of the honey bee is crucial to our agriculture and the world's food supply. Without the honey bee, prices of vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs and dairy prices will all spiral through the proverbial roof.

  It would be world food price inflation on steroids. Without the pollination of the honey bee, the world food supply would be greatly compromised. People just could not afford or obtain today's basic food staples. In fact, without the honey bee, the only pollination that would occur would be wind pollination. The result of a world without honey bee pollination would leave us with a diet that consisted of grain and seafood. Therefore, if we want to continue to regularly eat meat, eggs, fruits, nuts, vegetables; such as, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, onions, pumpkins, squash, apples, blueberries, avocados, almonds or cherries, et al, we need to give this disappearing honey bee mystery (CCD) some immediate political attention. In 2008, the latest news on the problem of the disappearing honey bee is not very reassuring. It is now estimated that nearly half of Italy's 50 billion bee population died last year.

  That bee mortality rate will have a drastic effect on the country's 25-million-euro honey industry which could plummet by at least 50% this year, and wreak havoc on fruit crops. Meanwhile, the situation in the U.S., where up to 70% of honey bees have already died, is far worse than in Italy. The worldwide bee epidemic has also hit France, Germany, Britain, Brazil, Australia, and Canada.Meanwhile, world politicians continue to ignore the severity of the problem.