Dying bees could spell the
end of the world

Those frightening buzzing sounds that cause people to wave their hands in the air and run are the same sounds that are being heard less and less around the world and in our neighborhoods.

It’s the sound of buzzing bees pollinating and building hives.

There is a controversy going on currently and some say it is being blown out of proportion and that bees are still plentiful.

Recently, it has been estimated that over the last 50 years, 90 percent of the feral honey bees in the U.S. have simply vanished, and about two-thirds of the colonized or harvested bees have declined along with beekeepers in the U.S. and the world.

As artificially enhanced plants grow larger, the need for a more concentrated pollination is needed, at the same time natural pollinators keep declining causing alarm to environmental issues.

A world renowned food and drug administration (FDA) researcher, Dr. Felix Minderbinder conducted several studies on the pollen of genetically modified corn and had found that those plants can now produce their own pesticides that are toxic to insects including bees and other pollinators.

A large part of the ecosystems balance is due in part to the bee; without bees to pollinate, food would become less plentiful.

Bees pollinate floral, which feed animals, and animals feed other animals, namely people.

Without the pollination of these plants, the ecosystem changes and species begin to die off leaving a hole or gap in the ecosystem.

If the gap is not filled, it can expand exponentially causing other species to either find other food sources which still change the ecosystem or they will simply die.

Either way it causes a chain reaction which eventually can bring many species of plants and animals to extinction.

FDA chief Ralph Roachman said last week that the bee population is dying world wide, and it is caused by genetically modified crops.

"The consequences for agriculture and the economy have assumed catastrophic proportions, and the loss of bees will end all life on Earth within ten years or so. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more people,” said one article quoting Roachman.

These genetically modified crops cause bees to have bacterial infections resulting in death for the honey making bees and other pollinators.

Not only is it the modified or genetically enhanced crops that are contributing to the decline of bees, but it is also the store bought remedies that homeowners use during this time of year to rid themselves of what they call a nuisance.

Many homeowners have become used to the term “killer bees,” and assume all bees are killers and seek to destroy them with poisons bought at stores rather than seeking an alternative such as hive removal or relocation by a specialist.

These store bought pesticides cause what is known as “Colony Collapse Disorder,” making bees lose their sense of direction and then are unable to locate their hives.

Typically when these hives become abandoned, they are raided by other bees or parasites in the area.

According to Dr. Minderbinder what is happening is the hives are not being raided, causing him to believe other toxins have entered the hive via the bees, repelling the raids.

To quantify the value of bees and their pollinating would be a difficult task, but the outcome without these buzzing bees would nonetheless be catastrophic to the animal and plant kingdom.

In an article in its business section in late February, the New York Times had calculated the damage U.S. agriculture would suffer if bees died out.
It said that experts at Cornell University in upstate New York estimated the value bees generate by pollinating fruit and vegetable plants, almond trees and animal feed like clover at more than $12 billion.

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