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early a third of our world’s crops are dependent upon honeybee pollination. Without them, we would have no fruits, vegetables, nuts, or seeds; scarcity of beef or dairy products due to alfalfa crops dying out; no seed oils and, obviously, no honey. We would have to live on a diet of pork and staple grains that depend on wind pollination, such as wheat, rice, and corn.
In 2013, the European Union banned the use of neonicotinomide insecticides on crops for three years due to research linking it to increased bee mortality. Despite this ruling, in the UK the pesticide manufacturer Syngenta is seeking emergency exemption to use this lethal chemical on our fields.
What the hell are they thinking? Haven’t they read the research?
When you have time, do take a look at these articles, and return here with your thoughts and opinions after.
What Our World Would Look Like Without Honeybees
Scientists Discover Key Molecule Linking Neonicotinoids to Honey Bee Viruses
A Global Citizens Report against Big Ag, Big Pharma & Government
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Sarah Potter Writes 
Man will not be happy until he destroys this earth. The use of pesticides has been an issue for a long time. We are living longer but we aren’t as healthy. My grandmother used tobacco as a pesticide in her garden when we were growing up. I’m sure there are natural pesticides that can be used to keep the bugs that eat the crops at a minimum and in the same allow the bees to do their job. I live in a city but there are flowers in the neighbor hood and some people do have vegetable gardens. I realize I haven’t seen a bee all summer.
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Our vegetable and fruit allotment is full of bees, but unfortunately more pests than we’d like. As you say, there are many alternatives and it’s just experimenting with what works best. Our beer traps were quite a success and there are some environmentally friendly sprays one can use. Also, planting certain flowers and herbs between the vegetables can deter or divert the pests away from them.
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Really great post, Sarah, I hadn’t heard about this link to the honeybee CCD. Doesn’t surprise me to find out, and wouldn’t surprise me if the truth gets swept under the rug. Btw I just wrote an article about bees and honey for edenkeeper.org, you might like it:
http://edenkeeper.org/2014/07/02/heavenly-honey-understanding-muslim-love-honey/
great photo of the bee on the beautiful flowering plant, too! ♥♥♥ ;^)
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Aisha, what am absolutely fascinating article you’ve written, and thanks ever so much for the link.
A Muslim family I used to know, sometimes invited me and my family to break fast with them after sunset during Ramadan. I remember they served some absolutely delicious dainty treats that dripped with honey.
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Thanks so much, Sarah! How wonderful for you to have this great experience and delicious memories! I’m so happy to learn more from your article, and really glad you enjoyed mine too! ♥♥♥ ;^)
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I learnt something today reading your informative post, I did not realise the importance of honey bees. Thx Sarah! 🙂
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My pleasure, Blondeusk 🙂 One tip, plant loads of lavender in your garden (if you have one) but, if not a window box or tubs will suffice. The bees absolutely love lavender and visit in hoards when it’s fully in flower. Also, the seed merchants sell packets of special wildflower seeds for flowers that attract bees and butterflies.
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When I get back from my family caravan holiday I am going to fill my garden with lavender!!! It will be take away attention from the bird graveyard look and feel to it…
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I knew bees were under threat and even without their ‘usefulness’ it would be a tragedy if these creatures were to decline even further. But reading these articles, it just shows how much impact one small creature has on the way we live. Thanks for this post Sarah.
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Yes, it’s really a case of all creatures great and small as part of a huge ecosystem. I’m still trying to work out the usefulness of flies and mosquitoes, though. Apart from spreading germs and biting people, they seem to have no purpose, except as food for spiders and for baiting fish hooks!
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So scary. I sure hope there is time to halt this.
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Yes, Janni, so do I, but those in charge of the world so often take a short-term view, probably because they’re older when they come into power and it’s a case of ‘I’m alright, Jack’ because they think they’ll be long dead before things go belly up.
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It’s also a money driven monster, our world. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. Not my quote but there it is. Hoping for the best outcome possible. In spite of all that, lol.
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thank you Sarah for posting about this. I will read the articles!
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I’ll be interested to hear your views, Cybele. Some of the Doomsday brigade have said that if all honeybees died out, humanity would become extinct in four years. But, as it explains in the first article, there would still be wind-pollinated crops left, so it would be more a case of human starvation on a gargantuan scale with people fighting over the scarce food.
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