Tuesday 16 July 2013

"The Birds and the Bees" are Essential to Our Survival

Screenshot Image: Ever wonder why we should protect the bees? 
Take a look at this image. 
To prove a point, Whole Foods in Providence, RI temporarily removed all produce dependent on pollinators.
Image Source: Facebook | Timeline Photos | Organic Consumers Association | #SaveTheBees


So why all the hub-bub about bees? 

Well, if the above image isn’t reason enough to consider preserving our busy-little pollinating super-bugs, consider this:

Image: Bees pollinate at least 130 different crops in the US alone, including fruits, vegetables and tree nuts. 

We are alive in part thanks to the honey bee. Bees have been the silent partner (well okay MOSTLY silent, apart from some buzzing) in the agricultural revolution that makes civilization even possible.

Imagine losing 1/3 of our food supply! That risk is real. 
Why? Because the honey bee is under threat.

According to SumOfUs Campaign: Help support our bold plan to save the bees,
"The bees are vanishing, and the pace is accelerating. We finally know the reason behind it, but powerful corporations are profiting off the very chemical — a nastly class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids — putting our ecosystem at risk, and they’re fighting like hell to hide the truth.”
~ SumOfUs Action: Save the bees from the pesticide that's wiping them out
There are other factors which have been contributing to bee colony collapse disorder, including the introduction of foreign parasites which were promptly distributed among the whole of the U.S. bee colony population thanks to the annual California almond industry pollination.
"Migratory beekeepers drive their hives 28,000 miles each year to provide pollination around the country. Apart from the absurdity of driving around flying insects that have evolved to explore neighborhoods, this annual California gathering creates a vast bee bordello where viruses, parasites and bacteria can be nationally propagated."
~ Dan Friedman
Source: Forward.com: 'Queen of the Sun,' an Illuminating Film That Explores Havoc in the Hives
To hear about this is one thing, to watch the story unfold before your eyes is another, and is one of the merits of the beautifully shot film, Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?

QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, director of THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN...
Posted by Collectiveeye 

And, as always, we are to blame. Humanity. Short-sighted, selfish, ignorant humanity. And we are all culpable.

Rather than support nature, its precious ecosystems, and the hard-working creatures that perform their duty without question and without fail, WE FAIL in our duty and all of nature suffers. Careful!

If you learn enough about this issue, you might just get angered enough to do something about it.

You can start right now by visiting SumofUs.org and making a small donation:
"We're raising money to send in a swarm of beekeepers to the world's largest independent garden store conference, to make a persuasive, personal pitch to the very men and women who decide what pesticides are stocked on store shelves nationwide."
~ SumOfUs Action: Chip in to help beekeepers fight the pesticide industry's propaganda


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