About this blog:

"A Sustainable UW-Eau Claire" was created to promote sustainability initiatives happening on our campus and in cooperation with the community of Eau Claire. Contributors from various parts of the University that are advancing sustainability initiatives post to the blog. Its goals: nurture community and create connections to coordinate the important work that improves our place on the planet--here on the banks of the Chippewa River.


October 27, 2011

Vanishing of the Bees

When you think of a bee, what comes to mind? Honey? Spelling? Winnie the Pooh? Bees are an important part of our livelihood. Each day, one hive can pollinate over a hundred thousand flowers. Approximately one third of the food we eat today is pollinated by bees. So where would exactly would we be without them?

Vanishing of the Bees focuses on this problem—more specifically—a hive death disorder called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). All over the world, bees have begun to vanish from their hives, resulting in a hive death. They leave no corpses or trails, only the queen and a few young. Quite simply, they vanish. Recent studies have pointed to "systemic" pesticides as the possible cause of CCD. Systemic pesticides are applied in a few different ways and are designed to be long-lasting. Crops are dusted and some seeds are treated to grow with the pesticide embedded. Over time, the soil harbors more and more of the chemical, adding to the sub-lethal dose of the pesticides. Bees gather the pesticide and take it back to the hive by way of the pollen and nectar they gather, where it is made into honey and wax. The effects of the pesticides are not immediate. It may take six months for the hive to experience a hive death. This time gap has led to problems in determining the exact and immediate causes.

Fifteen years ago in France, similar hive deaths were occurring. Because of protests by bee-keepers, the government banned the systemic pesticide Gaucho, manufactured by Bayer. Recently in the United States, the National Resources Defense Council sued the Environmental Protection Agency (the group responsible for determining the effects of pesticides) for information regarding the Bayer data on Gaucho. (The FDA does not conduct the studies themselves; rather, the manufacturer provides all the required data.) For the most part, bees had only been tested for immediate effects (1-3 days after exposure). As a result, Gaucho was banned by the federal court.

Without bees, we cannot hope to produce the types of food we do now. Already, 75% of the food we consume is imported, and 95% is treated with pesticides. With no pollination to aid the growth of edible plants, we would have to rely completely on imported goods. Not only would this raise the price, it would also lower the available amount of food. The bees have a major indirect effect on our livelihood and health. Without them, we have little hope of a sustainable living.

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