Honeybees have been dying off in massive numbers in the past two years. Colony
collapse disorder (CCD) is described as “the massive desertion of the hive and
die offs in the bee yard”. In the last year, honey bees have been dying off in
significant numbers, as reported by the national survey of bee health from the
Apiary Inspectors of America.
Massive desertion and die offs have been reported in commercial companies. However, many independent beekeepers report not being affected at all by CCD.
Many farmers rely on honey bees for pollination of crops during their cultivation and without honeybees, other food crop yields have also shown a decrease, reports John Burns of Belkin Family Farm in Natick, Massachusetts.
State bee inspector, Kenneth Worchol suggests that “CCD
may be due to overworked bees being trucked around and being exposed to
pesticides…”
Honeybees are an important part of nature’s cycles of growth and give us one
example of the rippling affects on the delicate balances in many growth cycles.
Honeybees provide direct resources in honey and bee’s wax, but they are also
linked to the life and cycles of other plants and crops, such as cranberries and
almonds.
Perhaps we should learn to look upon honey bees as we would look upon any other
living being – as part of the web of nature, not as a commodity to be used to
exhaustion without knowledge of or care for its part in Nature’s great arena.
