Speech - Anthony Tamasi

Anthony Tamasi

               Whether we like them or not, honeybees play a huge role in our lives. They just do what we all love to do: eat. But by doing so, they are also providing that valuable service of pollination.   Bees pollinate about one-third of the world’s food supply. Thanks to honeybees we have healthy foods such as apples, melons, blueberries, and strawberries. Thanks to honeybees we can feed the human population of 7 billion people and counting. We as a people cannot afford to lose bees, but that is precisely what is happening.

Since the end of World War II, honeybee populations have diminished by almost half worldwide. In 1945 we had about 4.5 million hives; now we have only an estimated 2 million. Beekeepers across America have reported losses of up to 90% and even 100% of their hives. This phenomena has been named Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and is affecting all of America and becoming prevalent in other countries as well. What exactly is causing this drastic decrease in the honeybee population?

After World War II, a new era began for the agricultural industry. Farmers stopped using alfalfa and clover, natural soil fertilizers, as “cover crops,” and rather used synthetic fertilizers. These cover crops are very nutritious plants for bees, so when we stopped using them the bees had to find this nutrition elsewhere. Plant monocultures, where only one or two crops are farmed in one area, began to take hold. This is characteristic of modern farming, and after persisting for over 50 years, has begun to kill off honeybees as well. These monoculture farms, after blooming season, become essentially food deserts because of the lack of crop diversification. Bees are impacted by this lack of diversity because they are now not receiving the variety of flowering plants that bees need for their survival. Nothing grows, forcing bees to move to find greener pastures. Monoculture farms, in combination with the stoppage of cover crops, leave bees who live in certain areas with no food sources after blooming season, even if the food being farmed is great for the bees’ health, like almonds.

In addition, our increased use of pesticides contribute heavily to the bee dilemma, if not the most. Our monoculture farming technique demanded this heavy use of pesticides, or else farmers would face a large portion of their crop being destroyed by leaf eating insects or other crop pests.  That would not be economically smart, so because of our society’s greed, we are sacrificing honeybees everywhere. Just so we can have more corn and soy beans. These pesticides, specifically the neonicontinoids, spread throughout the plant, including reproductive organs where pollen and nectar are produced. When a honeybee comes along and picks up the pollen, this compound spreads to the bee, which when in low concentrations, disorients the bee and has similar effects as intoxication. This most of the time results in that honeybee not being able to find its way home, much like a drunk, abandoned teen.

Just like every other animal, bees have their own sets of diseases and parasites. The most dangerous of which is the Varroa destructor mite, which is similar to a mosquito for humans. The mite sucks the blood of bees and circulates disease throughout the bee’s small body.

All of these factors in combination, fertilizers, monocultures, pesticides, and diseases and parasites, it makes for a deadly combination for honeybees. Imagine you have a virus. Your body is weak and you do not even want to move, but you need to go get some food. But wait, you live several miles from the grocery store. And when you finally get to the grocery store to get your food, you consume enough of a neurotoxin that you are so disoriented you cannot even find your way home. That is what millions of bees have faced, and millions to come will face, if we as a society do not act. I am not sure about you all, but I personally love food. No way will I survive if honeybees go extinct, along with apples, blueberries, almonds and many more foods. Potentially millions of people and animal species that rely on bees could face the same doom if we do not stop our genocide of the honeybee population.

What can you do? You can make a change by planting a variety of plants native to your area in your yard, and not using pesticides on those plants. It is that simple. We need to stop this mass murder of bees, before we realize how important they were and all we have of them is a memory.

Bibliography

·        McDowell, Clark F. "Save Our Bees! Save Our Foods and Flowers." Skipping Stones 22.3 (2010): 23. Middle Search Plus. Web. 1 July 2014. <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.kyvl.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mih&AN=50675996&site=src-live>.

·        Rhodes, David, and Caban Rhodes. "Restoring Honeybee Health." Save the Honeybee Foundation. Save the Honeybee Foundation, 2009. Web. 1 July 2014. <http://www.honeybeesanctuary.org/>.

·        Stone, Joe, and Dan Ball. Save the Bees. Digital image. Save the Bees. Pesticide Action Network, Mar. 2013. Web. 1 July 2014. <http://payload175.cargocollective.com/1/12/398364/5818080/prt_557x780_1371473017.jpg>.

·        "The Risks for Agriculture in Europe." The Bees in Decline. Greenpeace, 2014. Web. 01 July 2014.

·        Vanishing of the Bees. Dir. George Langworthy and Maryam Henein. Long Live the Queen, 2009.

·        Why Bees Are Disappearing." Ted Talks. Marla Spivak, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.