The Threat of Colony Collapse Disorder to Our Food Supply is Real

via Earth We Are One, November 28, 2015

I think that whether or not Einstein added into his equation how the bee extinction related to human extinction, but this has been challenged and even perhaps debunked. In fact, Einstein may have never said anything close to that. After all, he was a physicist and not a biologist. The diversity of the world crops is almost solely dependent on pollinators, predominantly by the common honey bees and also butterflies.

S.E. McGregor from the USDA’s Agriculture Research Service or (ASR), wrote a paper back in 1976 that was called

“Economics of Plant Pollination”. McGregor mentioned that some plants are self pollinated, and that “… it appears that perhaps one-third of our total diet is dependent, directly or indirectly, upon insect-pollinated plants.”

In McGregor’s 1976 paper, he also points out that,

“Another value of pollination lies in its effect on quality and efficiency of crop production. Inadequate pollination can result not only in reduced yields but also in delayed yield and a high percentage of culls or inferior fruits. In this connection, Gates (1917) warned the grower that, … ‘without his pollinating agents, chief among which are the honey bees, to transfer the pollen from the stamens to the pistil of the blooms, his crop may fail.’”

Now We Have Colony Collapse Disorder

It’s a well-known fact to those of us who care about the future of our food supply, that the bee populations are dying off at an alarming rate. Certain pollinating butterfly species are becoming more endangered, especially the Monarch butterflies.

Sometimes bees just simply get confused and aren’t able to return to their hives, but sometimes they simply die inside their own hives. Colony Collapse Disorder or (CCD) is known to run rampant in North America. Neonicotinoids are some of the most widely used pesticides in the world and are extremely toxic to most pollinators and bees included.

Some European scientists have discovered that bee populations are now experiencing a resurgence even after three neonicotinoid insecticides such as thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid were banned by the European Commission back in 2013. Unfortunately for the citizens of the United States, all three are still heavily used in their country.

At the European Academies Science Advisory Council, an independent body that is composed of representatives from the national science academies of European Union member states, has been quickly gathering mounting evidence that shows the widespread use of the pesticides that “has severe effects on a range of organisms that provide ecosystem services like pollination and natural pest control, as well as on biodiversity.”

This year the European ban is up for review, and the council’s report, based on the current examination of more than 100 different peer-reviewed papers that have been published since the food safety agency’s latest findings, was prepared and ready to provide officials with recommendations on just how to proceed. Hopefully, this time science will be able to prevail over the political influence from agrochemical industries.

Some predatory insects like ladybugs and parasitic wasps help to provide billions of dollars’ worth of pest control, and organisms like the noble earthworms help to contribute billions more through improved soil productivity. However, all are harmed by the dangerous herbicides and pesticides that we continue to allow to be utilized. One way to look at it is trying to put out a fire by shooting at the firemen as the arrive at the fire.

Purdue University emeritus professor and 55-year government plant pathologist Dr. Donald Huber suggest strongly that the glyphosate herbicides help to contribute to pollinating bees’ confusion, which causes them to not be able to return to their hives. That’s sadly just one side of CCD, the other part is when entire colonies of bees die within or near their hives.

Despite Dr. Huber’s strong background and personal integrity, he has been horribly ignored and vilified all for his attempts at warning the world about this issue. Trying to get through the corrupt people that work within the Academia and the USDA. They are all typically on the GMO industry’s payroll, either indirectly or directly.

These studies have received little to no mainstream media publicity or coverage. Yet it is another testament that we are showing to our children, that we do not care about their futures, so much that our leaders are more interested in money than the betterment of the world.

Luckily more and more of us are figuring out that this is not okay and actively looking to change the world to something we can all be proud of. But sadly there are still those out there, that assumes it’s everyone’s problems but theirs. But guess what, anything that happens to this planet is all of our problems. If we are not careful, there will not be a world left for our children and grandchildren.