The Disappearance of the European Honeybee

What the problems are and how we can help fix them

There is a very clear reason to hit the panic button sometime soon, since no other animal species is as crucial for the production of fruits and vegetables as the European honeybee. These fruits and vegetables, which keep us humans alive and satisfied, are taken for granted due to their vast abundance and trivial accessibility. In the last five years, 30 per cent of the national bee population (in Canada) disappeared, and nearly a third of all bee colonies in the U.S have perished with them. And things aren’t getting any better. The rate of disappearance is a mindboggling 42 per cent each year, with a monetary loss of an overwhelming $40 billion a year. With heavy losses in revenue, a primary government solution will follow. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested $3 million in subsidies in an attempt to fight the formidable $40 billion in losses and the catastrophic ecological crisis that is currently taking place.

The phenomenon, also known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), is one of the most detrimental environmental crises that the world has seen, and yet the majority of the world’s population has no idea about it. It is a catastrophic scenario that could significantly affect our lives and alter our diets for many years to come.

Even the grand Albert Einstein was aware of the undeniable importance of these creatures: “Mankind will not survive the honeybees disappearance for more than five years.”

So what’s killing these bees? The reason behind these mysterious vanishings is unclear at the moment, though experts are relating the deaths to pesticides, one in particular called Neonictoineoids. As the name might already suggest, this is an especially lethal family of pests, it is a neuro-active insecticide chemically similar to nicotine. In mammals, nicotine will cause brief stimulation, whereas in insects, the amount of nicotine will cause overstimulation, resulting in paralysis and death. Other factors such as malnutrition, habitat loss, infections, and the deadly and unknown combination of pesticides might also lead to the increasing number of deaths.

Alongside wild bees, honeybees are responsible for pollinating up to 80 per cent of all crops worldwide, and are responsible for 100 per cent of all almond pollination. The enormous losses in revenue have left thousands of beekeepers around the world helplessly wondering what’s killing their bees. This has sparked an urgent race to find an eco-friendly solution to the issue, whether it’d be an alternative to the pesticide, or an abrupt halt to its manufacturing. As recent as this phenomenon may seem, the root of the problem may have occurred in 1987, when Monsanto and other large chemical manufacturers began selling genetically modified insecticides in order to fight off the parasitic invasion of the Varroa mite on the bee populations worldwide. Though the quick, easy-fix remedy seemed efficient at first glance, the process only weakened the bees’ natural defence against the parasite. The pesticide, called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), causes malnutrition in bees through the breakdown of their stomach’s inner wall, preventing the bees from eating, and ultimately leading to the spread of bacteria. Due to the heavy lobbying power of these companies, refusal to use these pesticides has seen little impact, and has therefore only reached the public’s attention recently. Monsanto has continued to sell these chemicals uninterrupted by protesters. This vicious and deadly routine has been making bees more and more susceptible to these minute obstacles posed by nature, but as history might suggest, when humans intervene with nature or try to alter it, bad things tend to happen.

We cannot simply refute these chemicals because farmers make a living by growing crops, and it is the amount of crops they grow each year that enables them to live comfortably. These massive agricultural multi-nationals, as terrible as they may be to the environment, provide plenty of jobs and make foods accessible to us. So for now, what can we do to prevent the complete annihilation of this wondrous species? Support local farmers who refrain from using pesticides, support and donate to research on the matter, and next time you see the black and yellow creature buzzing about endlessly, don’t engage in the hysterical flailing dance that is the swapping of bee. Let it be; it has earned its wanderings amongst us. Maybe we should feel fortunate to have even come across one, soon enough, we might never even get to see a single one.