Who killed the honey bee?

Following from my previous post on this blog Save the bees and article why bees matter, we hopefully will make progress in this country with government providing funding for research to find out what is killing the honey bee.

The BBC scheduled an excellent BBC documentary "Who killed the Honey Bee?" which covers how a combination of:

1. Monoculture farming,
2. Cocktail of insecticides, including the new seed treated insecticides,
3. Climate change,
4. 'Genetic modification' of crops

These are some of the factors that are thought to have weakened the honey bee to such a level that the viruses they carry naturally in their gut (normally with no ill effect) are now killing them on a frightening scale and could yet bring honey and food production (which requires pollination) to it's knees.

Save the bees!

After watching an item on Countryfile the other week on the plight of the bees did it drive home the importance of the bees. Not only do bees produce honey but they also are very important to our food supply. Did you know that 40% of our food supply relies on bees? All the orchards and fruit farms are reliant on bees pollinating their flowers. They also have an important environmental role, being responsible for pollinating wild plants which produce seeds and fruits on which birds and wild animals depend.

Einstein said that if the bee died out, that it would only be 4 years until human civilisation would end.

Now the bee population in America are reducing because they are being attacked by colony collapse disorder and this may emerge in the UK. New exotic threats such as the small hive beetle are expected in the UK anytime. In the UK the populations are reducing but nobody understands why? The UK doesn’t know enough about bee disease control and the medicines that are available are inadequate.

In the UK there is virtually no wild honey bees left due to the effects of the parasitic varoa mite and the viruses it carries, and for which to date, there is no cure.

What can you do about it?

* Sign the bee keepers associations petition at www.britishbee..org.uk.
* Make your garden bee friendly by planting flowers that they prefer.
* Make www.foxleas.com/bee_house.htm or buy a bee house
* Take up bee keeping, see www.britishbee.org.uk for advice

Mary