Bee where? Beware!
Bee where? Beware!
I have some large, beautiful pear trees at home. Spring is a glorious time, when they are festooned with blossom and the air is sweet with their scent. I have had occasion to observe these trees for o
I have some large, beautiful pear trees at home. Spring is a glorious time, when they are festooned with blossom and the air is sweet with their scent. I have had occasion to observe these trees for over thirty years. When they bloom, I always pray for fine weather, so the bees can do their job, assuring us abundant fruit in the fall. Usually, on a warm day, one can stand under these trees and feel amazed by the loud, hymenopterous hum of thousands of the working critters. Not this year.
I recently took the time to carefully observe the trees for several minutes during prime pollination hours. I then went out of my way to look at several other neighborhood trees. In more than a half hour of trying, I saw not a single bee. A few flies, but no bees. Not one.
Interestingly, I saw a few cherry trees still blooming out along the mouth of the Blanchard Slough, down Chuckanut a ways, so I took a minute to hike out for an inspection. O.K. Thay had a few bees, but not too many.
Across the country, bees are disappearing. This is very unusual. Bees often die. There are a number of parasites, like mites, and diseases, like viruses or fungi, that can wipe out a hive. That's not the problem. In those cases, there are bodies evidenced in or around the hive. What is strange with this event is that the bees have just disappeared. Gone!
One theory is that cell phone use is interfering with their navigational system. But detractors point out that hives are disappearing even in rural Montana, hundreds of miles from the nearest cell-tower. Some believe it could be pollen from genetically modified organisms, a response to hybrid bees brought in to survive the mite infestations or some atmospheric or climatological change too subtle for us to detect as yet, but to which bees are acting as canaries did in coal mines. The truth is that nobody knows.
It's important, though. Bees are estimated to do over $14 billion of work in the US agricultural sector. Albert Einstein once opined that bees are so important to our food supply that should they ever disappear, human populations would soon follow. And he was no dummy!
In all likelihood - as is the case with most complex, multi-variate, non-linear systems - there are a host of stress factors working in concert to overcome the system's natural resilience. Whatever they are, it behooves us to find out. We truly stand with our entomological companions in our habitation of this planet.
It could be an object lesson in how little we really know about the complexity of life, and why we should be more careful about genetic meddling, habitat reduction and toxic releases. Meanwhile, we had nice weather for the blossoms, but now I'm praying for fruit.
I recently took the time to carefully observe the trees for several minutes during prime pollination hours. I then went out of my way to look at several other neighborhood trees. In more than a half hour of trying, I saw not a single bee. A few flies, but no bees. Not one.
Interestingly, I saw a few cherry trees still blooming out along the mouth of the Blanchard Slough, down Chuckanut a ways, so I took a minute to hike out for an inspection. O.K. Thay had a few bees, but not too many.
Across the country, bees are disappearing. This is very unusual. Bees often die. There are a number of parasites, like mites, and diseases, like viruses or fungi, that can wipe out a hive. That's not the problem. In those cases, there are bodies evidenced in or around the hive. What is strange with this event is that the bees have just disappeared. Gone!
One theory is that cell phone use is interfering with their navigational system. But detractors point out that hives are disappearing even in rural Montana, hundreds of miles from the nearest cell-tower. Some believe it could be pollen from genetically modified organisms, a response to hybrid bees brought in to survive the mite infestations or some atmospheric or climatological change too subtle for us to detect as yet, but to which bees are acting as canaries did in coal mines. The truth is that nobody knows.
It's important, though. Bees are estimated to do over $14 billion of work in the US agricultural sector. Albert Einstein once opined that bees are so important to our food supply that should they ever disappear, human populations would soon follow. And he was no dummy!
In all likelihood - as is the case with most complex, multi-variate, non-linear systems - there are a host of stress factors working in concert to overcome the system's natural resilience. Whatever they are, it behooves us to find out. We truly stand with our entomological companions in our habitation of this planet.
It could be an object lesson in how little we really know about the complexity of life, and why we should be more careful about genetic meddling, habitat reduction and toxic releases. Meanwhile, we had nice weather for the blossoms, but now I'm praying for fruit.
