Could strawberry ice cream disappear from our lives? What about vanilla Swiss almond? The folks at Haagen-Dazs are worried enough that they and others have mounted a campaign to halt the shocking decline of honeybees and other pollinators of strawberry plants, almond trees and the rest of the roughly 90 percent of terrestrial plant life that needs pollination. Officials of the Oakland company told Congress on Thursday that more than 40 percent of its product's flavors, derived from fruits and nuts, depend on honeybees. Without Bees:, fruits and nuts cannot exist. As for whether strawberry, raspberry or almond ice cream could disappear, Haagen-Dazs brand director Katty Pien said, "We hope not, but that's why there is such a sense of urgency, so that the millions of people who love our strawberry ice cream can have it forever." Honeybees mysteriously began to abandon their colonies in 2006, destroying about a third of U.S. hives. The rate of decline is accelerating, reaching 36 percent last winter. "How would our federal government respond if 1 out of every 3 cows was dying?" Maryann Frazier, a bee expert at the University of Pennsylvania, asked during testimony to the House subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture. Fruits, nuts, seeds and many vegetables are the foundation of California's $34 billion agricultural industry, the nation's largest, and the basis of a healthy human diet.

About a third of human food requires pollination. The plants cannot grow without it. "Our business is simple: No Bees:, no blueberries," agreed Edward Flanagan, chief executive of Jasper Wyman & Son, a wild-blueberry grower in Maine. "Wild blueberries can't be planted. Not here, not in Chile, not in China. ...We are very scared at the prospect of no pollinating Bees: for our fields. There is no alternative."

View: Full Article | Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Who cares about strawberry ice cream, I care more about how the plants and animals will be effected by this and when I say animals Im including humans.

NO MEAD!!! I agree this would be a disaster. It would mean rampant starvation all over the world.

Well, an ounce of prevention...

Someone should pay closer attention to this, I think.

I saw a documentary about a village in China (I believe) who grew a certain type of fruit or nut tree as their sole cash crop. They were introduced when there were many bees. Now, the bees are completely gone from the area and the people have to hand pollinate every single flower on every single tree if they want to make any money at all.

Not cool at all.

This tiny microchip attached to a bee’s back will hopefully explain why so many honeybees are dying from disease.

Professor Juergen Tautz and his team at the University of Wurzburg in Germany are studying the health of more than 150,000 bees, in the hope of halting the apparently inexorable decline in their worldwide population.

Each colony has around 50,000 members, all interacting simultaneously and making it near-impossible to observe them.

A revolutionary technology enables the study of bees at close quarters. As soon as a bee hatches, a tiny radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip is stuck to its back using a lacquer.

This allows scientists to study its behaviour throughout its life. The bee will be unaware of the chip as it weighs only 2mg — a typical bee weighing in at 70mg can carry its own body weight.

Once it has been chipped, each bee has a serial number, and a scanner on the outside of the hive (like a supermarket one) registers its movement every time it leaves or enters

The data allows scientists to determine the health of every bee — how many trips it is taking, how soon after hatching it collects pollen and how much food it gathers.

The scientists also hope to discover why some bees live for just four weeks and others up to ten months. Although the microchips cost just £1.20 each, they are lost for ever once the bees die outside the hive.
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I thought that I just read today about a truck load of bees tipped over and they had to smoke and spray them with mist to calm them down and to have them go to another truck waiting for them to settle down. Also some people in some states claim that they still have plenty of bees. Which state was not mentioned. Hopefully the bees will make a big comeback at least for our sake.

I'd hate to be the guy who shaves the backside of the bees in prep for placing the microchip. LOL!