permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/05/03/honeybees.dying.ap/index.html
Mysterious honeybee killer could make dinner bland - CNN.com
POSTED: 4:50 a.m. EDT, May 3, 2007
Story Highlights
• USDA official: "This is the biggest general threat to our food supply"
• One-quarter of U.S. colonies vanish, about five times the normal winter loss
• Honeybees pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops in U.S.
• Not all scientists foresee a food crisis, noting prior large-scale bee 
die-offs

BELTSVILLE, Maryland (AP) -- Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of 
America's honeybees could have a devastating effect on the country's dinner plate, perhaps even reducing its people to a 
glorified bread-and-water diet.

Honeybees do not just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest 
flowering crops the country has.

Among them: apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really 
sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, 
cantaloupe and other melons.

In fact, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 
percent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Even cattle, which feed on alfalfa, depend on bees. So if the collapse worsens, Americans could end up being "stuck with 
grains and water," said Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for USDA's bee and pollination program.

"This is the biggest general threat to our food supply," Hackett said.

While not all scientists foresee a food crisis, noting that large-scale bee die-offs have happened before, this one 
seems particularly baffling and alarming.

U.S. beekeepers in the past few months have lost one-quarter of their colonies -- or about five times the normal winter 
losses -- because of what scientists have dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder.

The problem started in November and seems to have spread to 27 states, with similar collapses reported in Brazil, Canada 
and parts of Europe.

Scientists are struggling to figure out what is killing the honeybees, and early results of a key study this week point 
to some kind of disease or parasite.

Even before this disorder struck, America's honeybees were in trouble. Their numbers were steadily shrinking, because 
their genes do not equip them to fight poisons and disease very well, and because their gregarious nature exposes them 
to ailments that afflict thousands of their close cousins.

"Quite frankly, the question is whether the bees can weather this perfect storm," Hackett said. "Do they have the 
resilience to bounce back? We'll know probably by the end of the summer."

Experts from Brazil and Europe have joined in the detective work at USDA's bee lab in suburban Washington. In recent 
weeks, Hackett briefed Vice President Dick Cheney's office on the problem. Congress has held hearings on the matter.

"This crisis threatens to wipe out production of crops dependent on bees for pollination," Agriculture Secretary Mike 
Johanns said in a statement.