Why Is the Bee Industry Collapsing?

Posted by Albert Burchsted Sep 25, 2008

Honey bees are succumbing to mites, moths, beetles, fungal attacks, and a new condition called colony collapse disorder, CCD. Beekeepers are now making dire predictions that failure of the bee industry, will result in an inability of almost ninety plant crops to be pollinated and produce fruits, and the possible collapse of our present methods of food production.

This is not just a case of Agribusiness crying out for a new insecticide to reduce crop damages. The loss of the honeybee could destroy many of our most important crops: including many fruits, nuts, and vegetables. By far, the two most important threats to bees are the varroa mite and CCD. The mite is known and can be fought off. CCD as yet has no known cause, and once the signs of it become evident, the hive is probably going to fail.

Neither varroa mites nor CCD appear to be major problems for organic farmers, however. This leads us to believe that the crowding of hives in areas where pollinators are needed and the use of pesticides, genetically engineered crops, and viruses may be prime suspects in both the mite and the CCD problem.

Organic farming methods have been demonstrated to produce foods with greater amounts of both micronutrients and macronutrients and less environmental insult in the way of pesticides and fertilizers than standard Agribusiness methods do. But some organic farming methods produce foods that have "natural" but highly toxic insecticides, have no better nutrients than Agrobusiness foods, and are not as beneficial to the environment as the term "organic" implies.