Honey bee crisis could lead to higher food prices

Honey bee crisis could lead to higher food prices

www.agweekly.com

WASHINGTON - Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday.

“No bees, no crops,” North Carolina grower Robert D. Edwards told a House Agriculture subcommittee. Edwards said he had to cut his cucumber acreage in half because of the lack of bees available to rent.



About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is essential is responsible for $15 billion annually in crop value.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Maybe in addition to funding alternative energy research, our government should start pumping some money into alternative pollenator research. I've heard the Africanized bee doesn't seem to be suffering from colony collapse. That could be good and bad news, as the good would be that maybe they could replace the common, more docile honey bee as lead pollenator... the bad news, obviously, is we're gonna have a lot more stings.

Either way, this seems to be a lose/lose situation.

www.agweekly.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Bit behind on the times eh?

Return of the Honey Bees!

reply to post by sardion2000


Not really. This article was from today's Ag Weekly update. Either farmers are conspiring to have an excuse to further raise prices or there's still a very real issue with honeybees that needs addressing. I suspect, after reading that honeybee thread, that it's probably a combination of Africanized bees replacing the north American honeybee and people are seeing more of these bees and the fact that honeybees won't attend to GMO crops, which many farmers have been strong armed into using, whereas they have no problems going into the average garden to pollenate.

this is in large part the fault of Bayer Cropsciences inc.

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
reply to post by sardion2000

 

people are seeing more of these bees and the fact that honeybees won't attend to GMO crops,

Yup, thats pretty much the consensus opinion right now. Way to fix the problem? Stop using GMO crops

Originally posted by sardion2000
Bit behind on the times eh?

Return of the Honey Bees!

Yeah, I'm confused too. I've been reading all over that the bee problem has reversed itself. I've also noticed that the bees are back in my area. Last year I didn't see any, this year I have already had to remove two nests and I know of a few others that are far enough away from where the kids play that I'm leaving them be.

Originally posted by BlueTriangle
Last year I didn't see any, this year I have already had to remove two nests...

Hives, man. Bees have hives.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. It reminds me of a scene in the movie Aliens, maybe you know it.

As far as I know, there's nothing wrong with the honeybee population in Australia.

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
this is in large part the fault of Bayer Cropsciences inc.

......and? You know the routine, links, proof and so forth? Or just an emotional response to a fear of things that are new? Or a theory based on good evidence? I'm open to what you can present?

Originally posted by tezzajw
Hives, man. Bees have hives.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. It reminds me of a scene in the movie Aliens, maybe you know it.

Actually the two terms are interchangeable. If you search around on the net you'll find doctors of entomology using the term nest as well.