i just read a very disturbing story in the business section of the ny times about the disappearance of millions of bees and the effect this will have on many crops especially those of california almonds. being not too far away from passover, the preparation for which is highly dependent on almonds (in our house at least); and being that a diagram of a bee is the only thing i can remember how to draw from middle-school biology classes, not to mention being rather fond of bees (especially john beelushi) i am upset by this news ... seriously though, isn't it another wake-up call about what we are doing to our environment?
"A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts. “Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,” said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation."
read the rest of the article here.
according to the times, the bees are extremely stressed, under attack from mites, and suffering from a strong immune suppression making them more susceptible to other deadly diseases. one bee specialist calls it 'the AIDS of the bee industry'.
how do we save the bees?
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