Honey bees are disappearing. Maybe you already knew that. What does this mean for us? Well, considering that about 30 percent of the world's crops are dependent upon honey bees for pollination, read: survival, it means that our Instagram accounts will be barren due to lack of avocado toast. It means that there will never be another "cats afraid of cucumbers" video again. It means that D.R.A.M. will have to turn to something other than vegetables for his song titles.

But wait! There's more. Thought your ice cream was safe? Think again! Cows are often nourished with almond products. Almonds depend primarily on bees to reproduce. So no bees, no almonds. No almonds, no cows. No cows, no milk. No milk, you guessed it! No ice cream, no yogurt and no cheese.

So why are we losing so many bees? It's due to a thing called "colony collapse disorder," or CCD. It's happening in bee colonies all over the U.S. and the world. Think, "Roanoke." We don't know where the honey bees are going, they're just gone.
Over the years, researchers have found a few possible and likely answers to the mystery of CCD. The first of which are a class of pesticides with a really long name. (Neonics for short). These pesticides are very common in industrial farming, but some seeds are pre-treated with these pesticides. This means that the garden you planted because you're earthy AF might be a silent killer of our honey bee friends.

The problem with these particular pesticides is that they disrupt the bees' natural homing abilities, which they use to get back to their colony. I can't say for sure, but I imagine they roam the earth for the rest of their little honey bee lives, flying in circles, dreaming of the day they can get back to the hive and keep making sweet honey for your hot tea, but sadly they won't ever find it.

Here's another thing: GMO's. There's already a lot of speculation about whether or not GMO's are bad for humans, but did you know that a lot of them contain pesticides in their genes? This means that every descendant of that genetically modified plant will contain chemicals that are toxic to bees. This summer while you're strawberry picking, if you swat away a honeybee, don't feel bad. The pesticides would have killed them anyway!

If you're not disturbed enough by the apparent lack of consideration for honey bee lives, queen bees are also sometimes artificially inseminated in order to speed up the reproduction process. Aside from the train of thought that leaves me wondering how one would inseminate a bee, this is an issue because it creates a lack of genetic diversity, which decreases bees' chance of adapting to become more resilient to pesticide-containing demon plants.

Now that you know the potentially detrimental effects of bee disappearance and why it's happening, there are a few things you can do to help. Make sure to never plant seeds that have been treated with neonics. If you're not sure, ask a specialist at the center where you buy your seeds. Another way you can help is to support organic farming. Organic fruits and vegetables are not only safer for you, but also promote better farming practices for our honey bee pals. Finally, never exterminate honey bees. Call a local bee keeper instead, and the honey bees can be safely re-homed.

#beelivesmatter