Save Lives - Save Hives by Kira Harkonen and Marina Green

Podcast for Everyday Einstein:

Last winter U.S. beekeepers lost one third of their honeybee colonies while the normal winter colony loss is 15%. This is not just any statistic that you can simply wave away like you do with a bee that gets too close.

One of every three bites of food eaten worldwide depends on pollinators such as bees. It’s not just the fruit and vegetables like almonds, apples, citrus, cocoa, grapes, olives, peaches, carrots, cucumbers, melons, onions, and pumpkins, but also crops such as cotton, peanuts, and soy beans.

Having such a large influence on natural resources, the honeybees’ welfare affects the entire ecosystem. European Union Health Commissioner Tonio Borg says, “They contribute over $29 billion annually to European agriculture."  Without bees, the US would lose $15 billion in the food and farm industry. If we lose a greater portion of bees the food we enjoy will become rare and prices will go up according to the laws of supply and demand.

So step back you’ll see they are connected to every facet of our lives and losing the bees would be a major setback for the advancement of our society. For example, bees are one of the primary pollinators of cotton crops, and cotton is used in the production of many different fabrics used in clothing, coffee filters, and tents, as well as in bookbinding.

Now we ask you: What would our world look like without bees?

The cause for the disappearance of the honeybees is attributed to something called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. Scientists have learned, over time, that there is no one cause to this Disorder. The primary antagonist in the bees’ story is something called the Varroa Destroctor, a vampire like mite that is responsible for killing off a large portion of the bee population. But things like pesticides, fungicides, malnutrition, displacement, and other factors also threaten the honeybees. The only country not affected by CCD is Australia and it is here that scientists are trying to figure out how to prevent their destruction by tracking the bees’ movements.

Humans aren’t the only factor contributing to CCD but we can play a big role in helping to re-establish honeybee colonies.

Albert Einstein has been incorrectly attributed with saying that, “If honeybees become extinct, human society will follow within four years.” But there’s one thing most scientists agree on, which is that the most important thing that people can do is learn about bees…

So how much do you know?