The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #133205 Message #3019673
Posted By: josepp
30-Oct-10 - 09:57 PM
Thread Name: BS: Possible cause of CCD-Colony Collapse Disorder
Subject: RE: BS: Possible cause of CCD-Colony Collapse Disorder
Albert Einstein made the statement " If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years." He was speaking in regard to the symbiotic relationship of all life on the planet. All part of a huge interconnected ecosystem, each element playing a role dependant on many other elements all working in concert creating the symphony of life. Should any part of the global body suffer, so does the whole body.
Many people would be surprised to know that 90% of the feral (wild) bee population in the United States has died out. Recent studies in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have shown that bee diversity is down 80 percent in the sites researched, and that "bee species are declining or have become extinct in Britain." The studies also revealed that the numbers of wildflowers that depend on pollination have dropped by 70 percent. Which came first, the decline in wildflowers or the decline in pollinators, has yet to be determined. If bees continue to die off so would the crops they support and with that would ensue major economic disruption and possibly famine.
In the US, bee keepers are experiencing unprecedented die offs of bees some losing as much as 80% of their colonies....