Alas, the honeybees…
Albert Einstein made the statement ” If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years.” sigh. woe. is us.
This, the most entertaining way to get up-to-date on the subject is of course, Mark Morford
Apocalypse of the Honeybees and then the post on the subject by Sharon at Casaubon’s Book Reverie Won’t Do: Preparing For A World Without Honeybees or the business basics of it all (’cause it’s all about business, right?) Honeybees Vanish… and as it relates to our food-supply, honeybee die-off threatens food supply
OR on a more hopeful note (if that’s possible), Flight of the Honeybees and Urban Bee Gardens and lastlyBuilding a Hive of Your Own It looks like a good weekend project, doesn’t it?
Love and honey,
Heather
*****Hi! This Just in! Kind Becky K. corrected me, Einstein did NOT say the ‘bee thing’ though it’s widely reported that he did.
The_Thadman said,
May 10, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
I find it interesting that Honeybees are not native to America, but were brought over from Europe. Before then, ground bees and bumble bees were what pollinated things across the continent and they are much hardier than their European cousins and have not been effected by CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder).
The activist hippie in me is crying for a nation-wide move towards local organically-grown native plants that do not depend upon honeybees at all, such as squash, tomatoes, peppers, corn/maize, beans, blueberries, blackcaps, cranberries, potatoes, quinoa, amarinth, etc. etc. etc.. just to name a few.
Perhaps if we put more of these into our diet and our farmland, our food supply’s future might not be as bleak.
Peace,
-Steve
Julinda said,
May 11, 2007 @ 5:12 am
I know a man who is a beekeeper and honey seller. He was complaining last year that most of the bees were gone and he didn’t get much honey. He thought it was because of airplanes spraying chemicals on the power lines. I don’t know the cause but it sounds like a bad situation.
Steve - Nice post. Good idea on eating locally grown foods, for many reasons!
Julinda
(P.S. I don’t think Einstein really said that about the bees - it’s most likely just something attributed to him the way certain types of humor get attributed to George Carlin or Andy Rooney!)
elderberryjam said,
May 11, 2007 @ 1:15 pm
Yes, but,…I like honeybees. I want them to stay and I want there to be lots of them. They are nicer than bumble bees, hornets, or other pollinating insects. Maybe the resistant ones will reproduce and come back in a few years.
There is an article in the most recent National Geographic about historic Jamestown, and it says that honey bees, night crawlers, peaches and apples didn’t exist in the United States before then. I don’t really want to give up apples and peaches either.
I’ll tell you what can go…Japanese knotweed, privet hedge and garlic mustard. Leave the honey, the bees, the peaches and the apples, please.
The_Thadman said,
May 13, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
Holy mackerel! I didn’t even think to mention the invasives. Garlic mustard alone is carpeting this nation and killing the local mycology.
Yeah, apples and peaches might be tough to give up for a lot of people (myself included, as I love apple pie and peach cobbler… but to think about the old saying “as American as apple pie” is a bit depressing in this context). I think the point that is better to focus upon is that if honeybees meet their end, we won’t starve or become nutritionally deficient.
We’ll just be out of some tasty treats that millions have come to know, love, and associate with. (Perhaps that would be a better motivator afterall?
)
Peace,
-Steve