Bees: Not Just For Honey

You might not think of insects when you think about animal communication, but as groups and individuals, they have purposes in our world and feelings, too.  (If you want to read about one conversation I had with a very urban fly, check out pages 69-70 in Dawn Baumann Brunke's Animal Voices, Animal Guides, a wonderful book about about animal communication and how to try it yourself.)

Bees, for example, play an extremely important part in our environment and lives.  Most people know that bees make honey and pollinate flowers, but they may not realize that pollination is what allows many fruits and vegetables to grow.  Without bees, the world's food supply would be in big trouble.

However, you may have heard over the last few years that many bees have been suffering from a syndrome called colony collapse disorder.  According to the Natural Resource Defense Council, researchers believe that  over a third of all bee colonies in the United States alone may have fallen to this disorder, wherein bees die off or disappear en masse.  In fact, the problem has possibly affected billions of bees worldwide.


Although there are many factors that may contribute to CCD, from mites, viruses and fungi to climate change and electromagnetic radiation, recent studies increasingly point to neonicotinoids, a new type of pesticide.  While Bayer, the maker of the neonicotinoid called clothianidin, claims that studies are inconclusive or incorrect, several European countries have already banned these pesticides. Still, in the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture continue to allow neonicotinoid production and use.  As stated in a petition on the Pesticide Action Network site:

EPA is supposed to license ("register") pesticides only if they meet standards for protection of the environment and human health. But pesticide law allows EPA to waive these requirements and grant a "conditional" registration when health and safety data are lacking in the case of a new pesticide, allowing companies to sell the pesticide before EPA gets safety data. The company is supposed to submit valid data by the end of the conditional registration period. In the case of clothianidin, Bayer never did so.

What can we do about this?  As always, I urge people to research and educate themselves about the topic, and involve themselves with local or national organizations as they see fit.  But, in just a few minutes, you can sign the NRDC petition to the Secretary of  the USDA here, and the Pesticide Action Network petition to Congress here.

Please consider taking some action.  It's not only important to the bees who are losing their lives, it's important to the food production and economy of the world.