The Little Guys – Bees
This is the perfect place in my Blog to discuss anything that is important and topical to The Little Guys of the planet. Insects – rodents – small animals – city dwelling animals – spiders – nuisance creatures – skunks and bats – they all play a part in our inter-connected world. One of the first things that comes to mind is the on-going problem with dwindling bee populations. It was first noticed in the 1980’s and again 6 or 7 years ago. It is still a problem today and is now formally called Colony Collapse Disorder.
A decline in domesticated bee populations was first written about 30 years ago. At the time scientists and bee farmers noticed that bee populations seemed to be dwindling. This was of particular concern in parts of Europe and the USA. Bees are known to be the most active of all the pollinators worldwide and are responsible for as much as 75% of plant reproduction.
The blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of insectcides that are toxic to bees, global warming, fungal infections and stress on the hives. The winter of 2006 – 2007 was critical when reports surfaced from the US Congress that approximately 25% of domesticated bees had perished. If this trend was to continue then plants and commercial crops could be seriously at risk.
And can you really imagine a world without honey?
