Albert Einstein said that if the bee population disappears or dies off, humanity would be extinct in 4 years. Last year, "Colony Collapse Disorder" - an alleged mystery disease -- was blamed for the 75-80% reduction in bees in the US, Canada, and parts of Europe and Eastern Europe.
At the tail end of a long AP story on the subject in Feb came this line:
Here's an except from an interview with a beekeeper in Maine:
That story is here.
This is a pretty scary situation, but it certainly follows the pattern of outrageously destructive abuse resulting from the complete deregulation of industries by the Bush Administration ("clear skies," "healthy forests," "no child left behind" et al).
This story isn't getting any mainstream play but just remember when you hear about cell phones this and fungus that, chances are it's a trumped up alibi for the pesticide industry.
At the tail end of a long AP story on the subject in Feb came this line:
Quote:
| Researchers are also looking into the effect pesticides might be having on bees. |
Quote:
| DO YOU THINK THERE IS STILL A POSSIBILITY THAT THE FALL OF 2007 MIGHT SEE A RESURGENCE OF COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER? Well, I’m worried about that. I mean, that’s one of the reasons I’m trying to run away from corn, soybeans, vegetables I’m not getting paid for. Fortunately, most of my vegetable growers have switched chemicals and going to something different. Our fruit and blueberry growers have all quit using this stuff and several of my pumpkin growers have quit using it. So, we’re hoping that’s going to remedy the situation. WHEN YOU TALK PRIVATELY WITH SCIENTISTS AND OTHER BEEKEEPERS, DO YOU GET THE SENSE THAT IT IS THE NICOTINE-BASED PESTICIDES THAT MIGHT BE MOST RESPONSIBLE? Well, a lot of beekeepers will tell you that’s what they think is going on. Some of the scientists, for reasons to protect the universities they work for – you know, you’ve got to have everything down on a scientific sheet or printout before you can make some statements. But there are a number of them that I think are leaning in the same direction that we are. For instance, I got a call and they made the comment like, ‘One of the scientists told me to call you, that you could probably say more than they could.’ Well, because I’m a private person, I can have an opinion, whereas the person in the university, they got to watch what they say until it’s all in black and white for university reasons. I DO REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST TALKED TO YOU ON FEBRUARY 16, 2007, THAT YOU WERE ADAMANT THAT YOU FELT THAT PESTICIDES WERE SOMEHOW RELATED. Well, I still do. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. WHAT CAN THIS NATION AND THE WORLD DO TO REDUCE PESTICIDES? (laughs) That’s an interesting question because we’re controlled, especially in this country – agriculture is pretty much controlled by the chemical companies and the large seed companies. And now that they’ve gone together and made agreements between themselves, it’s pretty hard to go up against City Hall. |
This is a pretty scary situation, but it certainly follows the pattern of outrageously destructive abuse resulting from the complete deregulation of industries by the Bush Administration ("clear skies," "healthy forests," "no child left behind" et al).
This story isn't getting any mainstream play but just remember when you hear about cell phones this and fungus that, chances are it's a trumped up alibi for the pesticide industry.
