Can We Survive Bee Extinction?

\”Are YOU Ready?\”

Well, the Environmental Destruction Agency has approved a brand new (and more deadly) poison in the arms race between industrial farmers and nature.

Despite new findings that prove a heightened crisis in US bee populations and a recent ban in Europe on similar chemical applications, the EPA has decided to further endanger the population Monday by approving a “highly toxic” new pesticide.

(Photo: MightyBoyBrian/ Flickr)

The “EPA continues to put industry interests first to exacerbate an already dire pollinator crisis,” writes the group Beyond Pesticides.

The agency granted sulfoxaflor, a product of the Dow Chemical Company, “unconditional registration” for use on vegetables, fruits, barley, canola, ornamentals, soybeans and wheat among others, despite the EPA’s own classification of the insecticide as “highly toxic to honey bees.”

Oh, but wait Calamity, they tell farmers not to hurt the bees with it! Right on the label!

As part of their decision, the EPA approved new language for the sulfoxaflor labels which reads, “Do not apply this product at any time between 3 days prior to bloom and until after petal fall,” during heightened pollinator activity.

Further, they approved an additional ‘advisory pollinator statement’:

Notifying known beekeepers within 1 mile of the treatment area 48 hours before the product is applied will allow them to take additional steps to protect their bees. Also limiting application to times when managed bees and native pollinators are least active, e.g., before 7 am or after 7pm local time or when temperature is below 55oF at the site of application, will minimize risk to bees.

Wow, not only does that make me weep for the bees, but it seems to be unrealistic since systemic pesticides, including sulfoxaflor, continue to exist in the plant (including pollen and nectar) for longer periods of time that will surpass the recommended application intervals, and therefore expose bees to residues longer than suggested. Not to mention the giant hole of “known beekeepers” since one is not required to register bees, or the keeping thereof.

Will this newest tool in the arsenal against nature be the nail in the coffin for bees in the US?

Sure, there will likely be some small number of native bees that survive in isolated areas. But the BEES, the hundreds of thousands of hives that pollinate the state of California alone, don’t have the resiliency to handle another poisonous blow. Can we survive the death of those bees?

Do you know what food requires pollination from bees? Every single fruit tree needs every single piece of fruit to be started by a bee visiting a flower in early spring. This applies to tree nuts as well. Most vegetables need to be pollinated, squashes, tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans, etc.

What can you survive on if the bees kick the bucket?  Potatoes don’t need their little flowers pollinated in order to make tubers, and you can reproduce the next generation  (well, the next flush of clones if we’re being accurate) with those same tubers.  Corn is generally pollinated by wind. Most grasses are that way, so wheat and other grains will probably not be hard hit.

Some blossoms are friendly enough that humans can pollinate easily on a large enough scale to be useful. Squash is what I’m thinking of here. The blooms are spaced out in time, large in scale, and easy to identify, so conceivably a worker with a brush and some patience could fertilize a row of summer squash without much stress.

I’ve heard that China has lost a lot of bees, and hand pollination is what they’ve resorted to. Of course, they have the labor pool to handle that.

I would much rather have the bees do that work for me. I’m betting you would too. If you have a bit of land and you can make some safe spaces for bees, I think every little bit will help at this point.

I would brush up on my vegetable propagation, and maybe plant another row of potatoes. If bees go, food is going to be scarce. Farmers will eventually adjust, but there is no getting around the scale of the problem.

- Calamity Jane

BTW

Can I just say, I’d love me one of those LifeStraws! Keep the comments coming! Get one for your BOB!