It is said that upwards of 80% of the food we eat is directly attributed to honey bees as pollinators. We've been hearing for the last few years here it the Maryland bee world that it's the greed of bee keepers that is causing the bees to fall prey to a intestinal mite that attacks their immune systems. Greed that motivates the keepers to take all the honey from a hive before winter sets in - leaving only sugar water as food for the hive to survive till spring. That's the ticket: feed em cool-aid for a few more jars of honey. Not to mention the "Cherry blossom bloom in January" reports you have the a dangerous die off of our most important link in the human food chain.
Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Crops and Keepers in Peril
By Alexei Barrionuevo
New York Times
Visalia, California - David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing.
In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation's most profitable.
"I have never seen anything like it," Mr. Bradshaw, 50, said from an almond orchard here beginning to bloom. "Box after box after box are just empty. There's nobody home."
The sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country.
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