April 17, 2007
The bees are disappearing
I’ve heard rumors of rumors, that the honey bees are disappearing mysteriously—leaving their hives to pollinate, not returning home, and dying often miles from their hive. The first that I’d heard of this was from my parents a week ago; an old schoolmate of mine has a few beehives and her bees have been not returning to the hive. I think she’s lost a few colonies already.
Well, because I don’t watch too much of the news anymore these days, I was oblivious to this latest development: disappearing bees… and on a global scale.
As with any quest for knowledge, I asked the great and all-seeing Google, is it true that the honey bees [are] disappearing? I wasn’t prepared for the deluge of information, with article after article citing various region after region experiencing a decline in their bee population—an alarming figure of 30 to 90% of our bee population is gone, varying of course by region.
The cause seems to be partially illusive, but scientists say that there are a few contributing factors: the radiation and waveforms produced from mobile phones, mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops. While scientists haven’t conclusively proven the cause, my money is on the combination of pesticides and both the the radiation and waveforms produced from mobile phones and the signal towers.
One article stated:
In some cases, 70 percent of bees exposed to radiation failed to find their way back to the hive after searching for pollen and nectar, according to the research by Landau University of Koblenz. Link to study (in German).
According to the study, radiation from cell phones disorients the bees and destroys their ability to communicate.
“When bees are exposed to signals from cell phones, they can’t find their way. They get no nutrition and consequently die,” said Dr. George l. Carlo, chairman of the Safewireless Initiative.
If you ask me, I think that between our consumerism and the driving force to have the latest technology, we’re going to create our own famine. With a rapidly declining population of bees, we’ll be hard-pressed to pollinate our crops, which in turn translates into failing crops, which results in little food. One would hope this nation of ours would rise to the cause and solve the problem in an eco-friendly manner, but as long as we’re driven by what we want and not what we need, I think we’re going to walk willingly into disastrous consequences.
I’d like to think that we could turn this around, but our culture has become so consumed with electronic devices, wireless technology, and more of the latest and greatest things to come about. And I’m just as guilty. But we are becoming more and more dependent upon things we just don’t need—iPods, mobile phones, more than one computer, lots of entertainment consoles, etc.
It’s also startling to think about just how many devices are becoming wireless. I had just recently purchased a wireless USB transmitter for our TIVO unit, so I could transfer recordings over to my computer. But it hasn’t been until yesterday that I really started to wonder about all the wireless frequencies that we’re being bombarded with. Wireless networks, mobile phones, HD radio, signals from satellites.
But after these reports about mobile phones and the radiation they produce, I’d have to say I’m more inclined to get rid of my mobile phone than contribute to a nation-wide famine of biblical proportions. I don’t mean to sound apocalyptic, sporting a doomsday theory, but Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, “man would have only four years of life left.” That perspective could be construed as extreme, but a major disruption to our food production would not only have a damaging fiscal impact, it could have terrible implications upon our nation’s ability to survive. Kind of ironic how we, a world super-power, can be brought down by such a simple thing—a self-induced food production crisis.
Is it possible that in the quest to have the biggest and the best, that our nation could fall victim to our own insatiable drive to have more? While I’m no techno-phobe and love gadgets along with the next person, I think technology is going to offer us a choice—use it responsibly in ethical and moral proportions and live well, or continue in the track we’re in now and face the prospect of famine and the struggle to live at all.
Gloomy post, I know. Sorry.
But how can we not see this coming? The climate is changing rapidly, our carbon emissions are off the chart, famous mountain-tops are losing their snow caps, bees and other pollinators are disappearing, frogs are also disappearing. I think that unless drastic changes are made within our culture, these will be the least of our worries.
April 17, 2007, 12:04 pm
Filed under: Awareness, Culture
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CrashEffect.Paul said,
April 17, 2007 @ 1:40 pm
After listening to the Zombie Survival Guide and I’m now half way through World War Z…
With thoughts of a world-wide pandemic and the end of the world in general… and now reading your blog I’m convinced I know how the world will end…
The bees will lose their navigation and die off like you mentioned… They will then re-animate due to all the pesticides in their body and become Killer ZomBEEs!
Michael said,
April 17, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
*groan*
CrashEffect.Paul said,
April 17, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
At least Jeff will think it’s funny.
Jamison said,
April 19, 2007 @ 2:47 pm
You actually expect Jeff to actually read this blog post… let alone the comments underneath it??
Michael said,
April 19, 2007 @ 3:03 pm
My thoughts exactly. The fact that I actually wrote more than three paragraphs (and each containing more than two sentences) could mean that Jeff might not have the time to read this entry. Unless of course Angie does more for him so he can read and write more blog entries.