There is an issue that
I would like to address without only my college communications class, but with
the greater public and communities across the U.S. I had originally began researching various
topics, and came across one in particular that I felt compelled to expose had a
direct impact on the environment– on a scale large enough to affect not only
local environments, but the whole ecosystem at large: the dramatic decrease in our honeybee
population in 2006.
Apart from my lack of
awareness of this fact, what interested me most was the rate at which these
bees are dying, and the degree at which these bees affected us and our world we
live in. According to researchers at the
Butlar County Beekeepers Association located in Miami, Florida, wild bee hives
have gone from 22 to 25 million in total to an astonishing zero within the last
17 years, which has forced scientists and bee keepers across the U.S. to breed
honey bees in captivity. Like me, many of you are probably asking, “how does
this massive decrease in our bee population affect us, and the environment?” Well, let me put it this way: commercial bee
hives pollinate over one third of America’s crops, such as peaches, apples,
cherries, strawberries, to nuts like almonds, and not to mention many of the flowers
they fertilize for our courtship. When
there is a shortage of bees to pollinate crops, then there becomes a shortage
of crop harvest and food supply, which causes an increase in the cost of the
food we eat. (For more information on
how the shortage of honey bees affects us and the environment, stay tuned for
the video links below.)
Most of you are also probably
wondering the cause behind this massive decrease in the honeybee
population. Amongst some of the many
allegations researchers are claiming as reasons for this decrease (which I will
further discuss in future blogs after more personal research), one in
particular I thought was of a major concern to mention. Konrad Bouffard, one of the most respected
and successful beekeepers in the U.S. located in Central Texas and holds the
largest beekeeping school in America, says that bees have been exposed to a new
pesticide called neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids
is a pesticide commonly derived from the chemical nicotine, which farmers use
to fertilize their crops. However, when
digested by honeybees through pollination, the reaction of this chemical
disrupts their digestive system, and kills them before returning to their
hives.
Proactivity for honeybee
preservation, suggests organic farming as a means to maintain ecological
diversity in our environment and the quality of food it produces for human
consumption.
