The Miraculous Honeybee – In Crisis

"One third of everything that reaches the American table owes a debt to the honey bee," according to The Honeybee Project.

Bees are much more than honey makers: They pollinate. I recently learned of the Honeybee Project and will quote from its website for the rest of this article.

Few people are aware of the vast importance of the honeybee to our everyday lives. While most think of honey, it is estimated that thirty-three percent of everything that reaches the American table owes a debt to the honeybee. Over 90 fruits and vegetables including apples, melons, nut crops, cherries, berries, avocados plus alfalfa and clover seed for cattle feed are dependent upon honeybee pollination. The economic importance in North Carolina alone is $80 million and the national economic impact closer to $15 billion.

Honeybees in Crisis

During the past twenty years, populations have declined worldwide with U.S. populations declining by approximately fifty percent. Imported and pesticide-resistant pests, shrinking habitat, and diseases have devastated the honeybee despite the best efforts of beekeepers. Farmers that have traditionally relied on both wild and domestic honeybees to pollinate orchards and fields are now dependent on the managed hives of beekeepers to successfully pollinate their crops.

Collony Collapse Syndrome
Moreover, researches, beekeepers, and farmers are currently in shock by the unexplained disappearance of millions of bees colonies. "We have seen a lot of things happen in 40 years, but this is the epitome of it all," Dave Hackenberg, of Lewisburg-based Hackenberg Apiaries says. Apparently, this disorder affects the immune system of bees and kills practically the whole colony.

Normally beekeepers would find dead bees on the ground around, as worker bees carry their dead companions outside the hive. But with CCD, no bees are to be found. They just disappear. Another confounding aspect of of CCD is that the affected colonies are not over taken by other colonies. Normally larger colonies takeover dying colonies.




More on CCD
Podcast from Penn State


Quick Links
Interesting Honeybee Facts
B-Eye
Enter the Hive

Make a Difference
Please support honeybees by making a donation to The Honeybee Project. Your support will increase awareness of honeybees in children. Debra Roberts, the founder, is a good friend and an all around amazing being in this world.

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