1-22-2013 After we had eaten at the Pioneer Restaurant again, we rode to the Peace River Bees in Zolpha Springs, Florida. This is a honey producing business of bee keeping. They have a store and we purchased some honey. We got a pint of sourwood honey and a small container of Tupela and Blueberry honey. Last year when we were ther, they were loading hives to ship to California. I was oblivious to how serious the need was for almond farmeres. I picked up a Style 'free' magazine and there was an article written by Mary Ann Desantis. I would like to share some of the information.
Honey bees do more than just produse the "nectar of the gods". They also pollinate more than one third of the world's crops. Due to use of pesticides, bees are disappearing at an alarming rate. Rising food prices are only the tip of the beehive; completely losing foods we love is a real possibility. Almond growers in California will pay top dollar --any where from $140 to $200 per hive-- to have bees trucked from all over the US and Canada because there just are not enough honeybees in the area to do the job of pollinating the almond trees. A million hives is what the almond growers need to pollinate the trees. There are only 2 million hives in this country.
The article goes on to say that an estimation that the US lost more than a third of its honeybee colonies in the winter of 2010. Poor weather and geneticall weak colonies are partly a reason, but many researchers and beekeepers fear that a phenominon called Colony Collapse Disorder is causing the worker bees to simply leave the hives. It is suspected that pesticides play a significant role by causing bees to become disorientedor impaired so they cannot find their way back to their hives.
Bees are so important. Flowering plants require insects for pollination, and honey bees are by far the most effective. In fact, this author of the article states that they they are responsible for about 75% of insect pollination according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and that includes most fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Even coffee, soy beans, cotton, and clovers--like alfalfa--are dependent on honeybee pollination to increase its yield. It is said by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that without bee pollination one-third of the food in Florida would disappear. Only three crops do not depend on bee pollination--rice, wheat,and corn--would survive.
It is of vital importance that researchers discover the causes of CCD soon. If not repercussiions will be felt in checkout lines, in open-air markets and on dinner tables around the world.
This information is dear to my heart because my father had honey bee hives and ate honey EVERY day of his life. He said that it helped with his arthritis and allergies!! What do you know. There is a whole 'pharmacy' of products for various maladies that is made from the honey bee. I have used a cream for my psoriatic elbows sice last year and my elbows are smooth!!!
This article made me want to be an activist for the honey bee!!!
More Later
