Bee mortality is increasing rapidly. According to Albert Einstein, once the bees died out, we still have four years to live, since without bees we would starve quickly ourselves. After all, the food chain would largely collapse as bees provide a large part of the pollination on earth. However, according to more and more scientists, bees are really disappearing. Not only because of hunger and a weakened immune system, but also because of poison that is used in agriculture and in gardens. What now? An article about the bees and the flowers …
Bee mortality increases. Bees are dying en masse. Entire bee colonies die out at the same time. For some time, people felt in the dark about the cause of bee deaths. It now points out that the use of pesticides in combination with hunger, due to insufficient variation in flower types, are the main causes. Several types of insects die out as a result of the use of pesticides. Butterflies are also dying out from our agricultural poisons. This concerns the agricultural poisons on fields, but also ‘normal’ pesticides that are used in gardens.
How many bee species are there?
Colony Collaps Disorder (CCD) means ‘disappearing disease’. Bees are dying out all over the world. A very bad signal, because bees are responsible for the majority of pollinations worldwide. In principle, CCD seemed a mystery, but researchers now know that the disappearance of bees is caused by humans. Humans use such deadly agricultural poisons that bees die very quickly. Entire bee colonies are dying out at the same time, that’s how strong the poisons are. This is the case in most parts of the world, with the exception of South America, Africa and Australia. The main causes of bee extinction are:
- Pesticides (both in agriculture and at home in the garden)
- Starvation, because natural plants have been expelled by humans or even died out
- Illnesses, including reduced resistance due to the above causes
Bee mortality. Big problem
If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man ??
Albert Einstein.
Help save bees and butterflies
If the bee dies out or diminishes in population so much that too little pollination can take place, then it goes without saying what the catastrophic consequences are. Plants dependent on pollination will die out. Animals that depend on those plants will also die out. In the long run, humans will also see no chance of survival, because many fruits and vegetables depend on bee pollination. While apparently this is happening before our very eyes, bee mortality is still not a real hot item. More and more scientists are saying aloud that it is the pesticides that eradicate the bees, and that concerns, among other things, the harmful pesticides of the group of neonicotinoids, which have been widely permitted in the Netherlands for a long time. Because so much money is involved, few stakeholders are apparently eager to stop using those pesticides.
Sow bee seeds
What you can do extra is just as important: sow (organic) bee seeds without pesticides. The flowers that come from the variety of bee seeds are suitable for the food needs of bees, so that they get the nutrients they need naturally. This way you help prevent starvation of bees, bumblebees and butterflies (and other atomizers). The resistance of bees will increase through correct feeding from bee flowers, so that the bees are more strongly armed against other pathogens such as mites or viruses. Do not use pesticides in the garden anymore, but let nature do its work.
Declining bee population
It all started in America. In more than 20 states, the bee population was declining rapidly. Millions of bees disappeared and no one had a conclusive explanation. Normally, 10% bees die every winter. That is normal. But according to data from beekeepers in America, no less than 70% of bees disappeared after 1970. Many beekeepers were and are very concerned. Often the bees just disappear without leaving a trace. They fly out of their hive and do not return. The hives were left full of honey, queen and larvae and all. However, bees are social animals that live according to established habits. They will never just leave their queen behind. Research has shown that bees die from diseases and pesticides. All sorts of causes were sought, but although bees, like all living things, can die of many diseases and causes, it became increasingly clear that pesticides, which penetrate deep into plants, are the main culprit. Bees are a successful species, but any biological balance is vulnerable to change. Bees are very vulnerable to disturbance of this delicate balance. For centuries they lived in harmony with nature, until the pesticides came. The pesticides paralyze the nerve pathways, with the result that bees either die immediately, or become so disoriented that they can no longer find their way back to their nest, and therefore die. Butterflies also quickly die.
What causes have scientists and beekeepers put forward for the decline of bee colonies?
The mysterious decline in the bee population was a mystery at first. Some researchers thought the death and disappearance from the use of mobile phones would come. The Daily Mail and The Independent wrote, among others. The bees would become disoriented from the radiation from cell towers and could no longer find their way home. Several studies at Landau University in Germany and a study by the American government seemed to confirm this theory. Bees sometimes did not return to their hive after cell phones were placed around them. This was later rejected. Bees often survive well in large cities where many mobile phones are used. The investigations into telephone poles therefore seemed rather only to take time because stakeholders were afraid of missing out on money. Later reports pointed out that bees do disappear through the use of chemical pesticides in agriculture. In particular the use of Imidacloprid (ISO). The pesticides are made to kill insects, so it makes perfect sense that the bees will also die. Changes in the living environment and climate also affect bees.
Varroa mite
However, the knife cuts both ways. Also notorious is the Varroa mite, which can wipe out colonies of bees. However, this mite knows the easiest to infest bees with a weakened resistance, and those are the bees that have been weakened by pesticides.
Poisons down to the DNA of plants
Research has shown that Imidacloprid is one of the two biggest culprits for bee deaths. The agricultural poison applied to the seeds even creeps into the plant’s DNA, causing the poison to occur throughout the plant. The advantage of Imidacloprid for agriculture is that the poison no longer has to be sprayed because the poison is then in the plant itself and is therefore passed on to subsequent generations of plants. Disastrous for life on earth? Indeed, according to more and more scientists, it is one of the biggest culprits. Moreover, the poison does not only end up in animals, but also in humans.
Wild plant species are dying out
The other major culprit of bee death is starvation. Because people have removed almost all wild plants, not only from nature reserves but also simply from the front and back garden, bees are starving because of too one-sided nutrition. Bees can often only get nectar from the poor flower varieties from garden centers, which they can find in gardens, and there are far too few of them. Moreover, such flowering plants that do exist are often so severely genetically engineered that they no longer provide the same food as their original ancestors. As a result, bees receive unilateral food and slowly starve. If you want to do something about this, you can buy so-called bee seeds.
Bee colonies in Europe
The number of bees is also declining in Europe. Environmental pollution, temperature fluctuations on mother earth, and certain bee diseases are also pointed out as additional causes. However, pesticides appear to be the main cause. In particular the use of Imidacloprid. As a result, the mortality among bees is increasing alarmingly. Yet it is precisely these pesticides that are permitted, for example in the Netherlands. The current cabinet has not yet done enough worth mentioning to ban these pesticides completely. The poison gets deep into the plants because it is used as a seed coating on the seeds, and the poison also ends up in the surface water. Bird lovers expressed their concern in 2014 because birds also die en masse from eating insects that ingested Imidacloprid.
Paralysis by analysis
Politics is not doing enough against the death of insects and animal species that depend on them. According to scientists, people have a ‘paralysis by analysis’ attitude. More and more investigations are being used, with which decisions can be postponed. And although in agriculture Imidacloprid is more often replaced by neonicotinoids, Thiamethoxam and Clothianidine, these poisons appear to be just as harmful for bees, birds and of course also for humans.
Pollination
Worldwide, bees pollinate a large part of agricultural crops. There is no substitute for the hard work of these insects. If there are no more bees, there will be a serious fruit and vegetable shortage. Other plants and tree and flower species will simply die out as well. When you consider what it will mean if such a horror scenario becomes reality, it is frightening.
Help save the bees so we can save ourselves ??
You can help bees by buying unsprayed fruit and vegetables, growing your own fruit and vegetables, and placing long flowering, but no (!) Double-flowered plants in your garden, balcony or land. Wild gardens are paradise for bees. The more flowering plants, the better. Kitchen and medical herbs are also popular with the bee. Do not use pesticides in the garden. And a pond with clean surface water certainly won’t hurt. You can also protest by writing a letter to the government asking if they want to permanently ban pesticides that kill the bees.
