By now, you probably have heard that bees are in trouble. Worldwide bee populations have declined drastically, at least by 1/3 in the last 2 years, with some honeybee keepers reporting losses up to 90%, and Croatia losing 5 million bees in 48 hours, says this excellent BBC article which is an excerpt from the book “A World Without Bees” by Allison Benjamin and Brian McCallum. At this rate, says the authors, bees will be gone from America in 2035.
Honey Bee
Scientists aren’t quite sure why bees are disappearing so rapidly, but they have named the phenomenon Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Theories abound: a virus, a parasite, wireless communication devices interfering with bees’ directional ability, pesticides, etc.
A new study has come from the University of Virginia that brings air pollution into the mix. The study found that air pollution interferes with the distance that floral scents travel, by up to 90%. (See source article here and study here) As you can imagine, this sets in a vicious spiraling-down cycle where the bees cannot locate enough food which then results in fewer bees. Fewer bees means less pollination, which means fewer flowers, which means fewer floral scent particles to travel, which means bees locate even less food.
This is troubling, to say the least. Benjamin and McCallum assert that bees pollinate approximately $15 billion worth of food crops each year in the US, $60 billion globally, which is about 1/3 of all the food we eat. Clearly, we need to think about these little bugs.
Some European countries have already banned pesticides which have been proven or are largely thought to be impacting bee populations, showing us once again, that pesticides have effects far beyond their intended ones (You can read more about pesticides’ negative effects on the environment in my pesticide blog post here). But what can we do about air pollution?
Now we have an even stronger economic basis for curbing air pollution, to help aid pollination and keep the $15 billion dollar US industry depending on bees going. Aside from that, curbing air pollution has far-reaching health benefits for people (see my post here).
Could the honey bee be our little canary in the coal mine for air pollution?
[...] Don?t Breathe The Air: Air Pollution and Bee Die-off By carolineinthewoods … showing us once again, that pesticides have effects far beyond their intended ones (You can read more about pesticides? negative effects on the environment in my pesticide blog post here). But what can we do about air pollution? … Jesus and the Orangutan: Environmenta… – http://jesusandtheorangutan.wordpress.com [...]
Air Pollution is the major problem for the whole World. Scientists aren’t quite sure why bees are disappearing so rapidly. According to me, the main cause behind decreasing in bees population is pesticides being used.Some European countries have already banned pesticides which have been proven or are largely thought to be impacting bee populations.
I agree that pesticides aren’t helping. Seems like it’d be a pretty obvious connection – non-targeted pesticides kill all insects in their paths. However, for such a worldwide decline, it seems like many factors are contributing and we should address as many factors as we can, especially those that have negative effects on us as well (air pollution, pesticides, etc.).