Many pesticides have a very severe effect on bees. With the recent destruction of bee colonies in Oregon, it’s time to carefully consider what we’re missing without bees.
Over the past 10 years, 40% of bee colonies in the US have suffered from Colony Collapse Syndrome (IBS). The bees become so disoriented that they cannot find their way to the hive and die away from home, or arrive poisoned and die at the paws of the queen. There are many reasons for IBS, but the most logical and likely cause is the increased use of pesticides by Monsanto and other companies.
A study by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) marked the pesticide clothianidin unusable and banned it altogether. However, the US uses this pesticide on more than a third of the crops grown – almost 143 million acres. Two other pesticides associated with bee death are imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. They are also widely used in the US, while they are banned in all other countries.
The FDA recently confiscated the bees of Terence Ingram, a naturalist who has studied bees for over 30 years and developed a colony resistant to Monsanto’s Round Up. Ingram’s valuable bees, along with the queens, were destroyed by the Agency, while Ingram was not even warned that the bees would die.
List of plants pollinated by bees
Although we do not need bees for all plants, here is a short list of what products we will lose if bees continue to die out:
Apples Mango Rambutan Kiwi Plums Peaches Nectarines Guava Rose hips Pomegranates Black and red currants Alfalfa Okra Strawberries Onions Cashew nuts Cactus Prickly pear Apricots Allspice Avocado Passion fruit Lima beans Beans Adzuki beans Green beans Orchids Cream apples Cherries Celery Coffee Walnut Cotton Lychee Flax Acerola – used in Vitamin C Supplement Macadamia Nuts Sunflower Oil Goa Beans Lemons Buckwheat Figs Fennel Limes Quince Carrots Persimmon Palm Oil Loqua Durian Cucumber Hazelnut Cantaloupe Tangelo Coriander Cumin Chestnuts Watermelon Star Apples Coconut Tangerines Boysen Berries Carambola Brazil Nuts Beetroot Mustard Seed Rapeseed Broccoli Cauliflower Brussels sprouts Chinese sprouts Turnips Congo beans Canavalia Chili peppers, red peppers, bell peppers, green peppers Papaya Safflower Sesame Eggplant Raspberry Elderberry Blackberry Clover Tamarind Cacao Cowpeas Vanilla Cranberry Tomatoes Grapes
If your favorite foods are on this list, consider: maybe you should come out in support of the bees?