Davindranauth Shiwratan

June 10, 2014

Decline in Pollinators; U.S. Agriculture at Risk

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 17 billion honey bees have been killed and injured across the United States and could put $15 billion worth of fruits, nuts, and vegetables at risk. Honey bees are important pollinators for both flowers and agricultural crops.

The list of crops that simply would not grow without honey bees is lengthy: Apples, cucumbers, broccoli, onions, pumpkins, carrots, avocados, almonds, etc.

We need honey bees to pollinate many of our favorite fruits and vegetables, the United States could lose $15 billion worth of crops – not to mention what it would do to your diet.

Beekeepers first sounded the alarm about disappearing bees in 2006. Seemingly healthy bees were simply abandoning their hives en masse, never to return. Researchers call the mass disappearance Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and they estimate that nearly one-third of all honey bee colonies in the country [United States] have vanished.

Scientists studying the disorder believe a combination of factors could be making bees sick, including pesticide exposure, invasive parasitic mites, an inadequate food supply and a new virus that targets bees’ immune systems. More research is essential to determine the exact cause of the bees’ distress.

The Natural Resources Defense Council states the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) has so far failed to aggressively seek out a solution. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has allotted $20 million over the next five years for research, that amount pales in comparison with the potential loss of $15 billion worth of crops that [honey] bees pollinate every year.

Source:

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/bees.asp