MEPs of the European Parliament are calling declining European bee populations a “bee emergency,” and pressing for EU action. More important than the honey that they produce, bees pollinate the fruits and vegetables that humans consume. Although through selective breeding some vegetables no longer need cross pollination to bear fruit, for many this is not the case.

Baroness Sarah Ludford (UK MEP) has called for increased funding for research into the role that pesticides are playing in the shrinking bee populations. (Read here)

On Friday, Financial Times reported that “this year German bee populations have dropped by a quarter and British beekeepers are expected to lose up to ten per cent of their hives this winter alone.” (Read here)

The health of bee populations is a food security issue and should be treated as such. Does the US offer incentives to bee farmers as it appears the Europeans are about to do?

UPDATE: I just read a great interview with Rowan Jacobsen, the author of Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis, that has convinced me to add his book to my reading list. In response to a question about the potential consequences of honeybees completely dying off, he says

“More than 100 crops, about a third of the calories we eat, require cross-pollination by honeybees. The grain staples such as corn, rice, and oats are wind-pollinated, but most of the stuff that adds color to our plates and vitamins and antioxidants to our diets—apples, pears, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, plums, melons, cucumbers, zucchini, almonds, macadamia nuts, and so on—would disappear.”

Additionally, he noted that one of the solutions to declining honeybee populations is greater diversification of pollinators. Two pollinators that he suggested could fill this role are the blue orchard bee, and the Asian honeybee. According to this Bloomberg article (dated 10/07), blue orchard bees, a species of wild bee, are better suited for cooler climates.

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