“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Unfortunately, our world is not getting any better, it is actually getting quite a bit worse because too many people don’t care a whole awful lot. I do my very best to care, and you should too because this is the only earth we, and all other beings, have.
We have a number of environmental problems we need to worry about already, but now we really need to be concerned with saving the honeybees! Despite the fact that many people are afraid of bees, they are so helpful to the human race; do you know how much of the food we consume is pollinated by honeybees? One source says that 30% of the world’s food is pollinated by bees; another says that about 75% of the world’s food is affected by bees. The USDA puts this in a bit of a different way, “Bee pollination is responsible for more than $15 billion in increased crop value each year.” I cannot knowledgeably quantify that number for you all, but that is quite a bit of food and that is only thinking about the United States.
Even though honeybees are immeasurably important to the way this world works, they are dying in large numbers, and this is due to two main problems; one we currently know how to solve, the other, not so much. The problem we are not sure how to solve yet is called colony collapse disorder, and we don’t know how to solve it because we are not sure how it happens.
The only thing we know about this disease is that it leaves no adult honeybees alive, only the queen bee and some immature bees. There is no known origin and, therefore, no real way to prevent it. There are a multitude of theories about how colony collapse disorder starts; the use of fungicides and pesticides, the diet of the bees not being nutritious or diverse enough, or just that beekeeping is not completely natural. However, nothing has been scientifically proven to cause this terrible disorder.
The other problem that we know is killing our bees us the use of pesticides. We have heard many negative effects of this substance, yet they are still used frequently in growing crops. This is another reason not to use pesticides, and if they continue to use them we could lose honeybees. Thousands of bees are dying because farmers in close proximity to the hives are using pesticides on their crops, and since there are a limited number of managed colonies already, this is bad news because our need for honeybees is increasing at a rapid pace.
There is one state, Maryland, which just passed a law that restricts the use of a pesticide that is known to kill bees; it is called a neonicontinoid, which is a very popular form of pesticide. This law is great step in the right direction, but it has its flaws; it still allows farmers to use it, people just cannot use it in their home gardens. Many other states have attempted to get a bill like this passed, but they have not come close like Maryland.
All of us who care about these little black and yellow friends need to do something to try and help them! They are essential to humans for their food production and they also make our world more beautiful by pollinating flowers. Even if you are scared of them, like I am, we all need to realize how crucial they are to our way of life and do everything in or power to make a big difference for these tiny creatures.
