Cape Karen
"David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing.
In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable.
“I have never seen anything like it,” Mr. Bradshaw, 50, said from an almond orchard here beginning to bloom. “Box after box after box are just empty. There’s nobody home.”
The sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country.
Beekeepers have fought regional bee crises before, but this is the first national affliction.
Now, in a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie, bees are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never returning to their colonies. No dead bees have ever been found... and nobody knows why they're disappearing." (NY Times, February 2007)
I've always loved a mystery - ever since reading all those Nancy Drew novels as a kid - but this one is mind-boggling in its implications for our future as consumers. Since that article was written at the beginning of this year, it's become an international crises with bees disappearing in Africa, China and other European countries. Think about it. . . no honey bees to pollenate our flowers, fruits, nuts and vegetables? Good grief, that's really frightening. Are those damn aliens taking our bees now, instead of just dissecting our cattle for their organs? Where are all the millions of bees that have disappeared? Why are there no little bee bodies found anywhere?
I'm going to have to keep my eye on this mystery, that's for sure - I love my flowers, fruits, veggies and nuts and I can't imagine life without them! (Interesting, too, that Jerry Seinfield has just made "Bee Movie," that opens this week in theaters everywhere... I sure hope that won't be the last we see of the bees!)