‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ in Bees Could Affect Food Prices

As if we needed another thing pushing up the cost of food, it’s now looking like the mysterious malady facing bees across the world may affect food prices as well. We need bees to pollinate crops in order to grow fruits, vegetables and grains. We need to grow this food in order to feed our livestock. So, when the bees aren’t pollinatin’, we’re facing big problems.

From The Huffington Post:

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

In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers have lost 36 percent of their managed colonies this year. It was 31 percent for 2007, said Edward B. Knipling, administrator of the Agriculture Department’s Agricultural Research Service.

“If there are no bees, there is no way for our nation’s farmers to continue to grow the high quality, nutritious foods our country relies on,” said Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, chairman of the horticulture and organic agriculture panel. “This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore.”

Food prices have gone up 83 percent in three years, according to the World Bank.

The idea of bees no longer being around to pollinate crops is extremely scary. The mysterious ‘colony collapse disorder’ isn’t the only problem – it’s also the fact that pollution in the air changes scent molecules, making it harder for the bees that remain to find flowers. Time to start growing as much of your own food as you can, people. Not that that will save us from the potential disappearance of bees -–but it will at least help protect your family from skyrocketing food prices.

Link [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user blondyimp

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