Friday, May 1, 2015

Dwindling Bee Populations

I've attached the following article to provide some background for the subject of this post in the case that a reader is not aware of the world's bee situation:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/declining_bee_populations_pose_a_threat_to_global_agriculture/2645/

In recent years, there has been more and more recognition of the now widespread colony collapse disorder (CCD) of the bee populations all over the world. One of the most significant factors in the decline of the bees is the herbicides and pesticides layered over enormous sects of farmland of the US and many of the countries that also use them. In addition to the bugs that harm the crops of farmers, these poisons ironically have been killing the bees, one of agriculture's greatest assets. This has been occurring at such a magnitude that bees have been brought down to record low populations as a whole. Efforts to reduce the effects of the herbicides and pesticides on the bees has been highly difficult. Not even the exclusion of the poisons from farmland has proven to thoroughly work as it has been found that many of the plants exposed to the substances retain them throughout their growth and as a result kills or sickens the bees that approach it.

The Bee Movie is actually good movie to watch to illustrate how their absence impacts the environment in such a significant way.

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