Genetic Engineering and dramatic collapse of bee populations
This is an extract from the international edition of the German news magazine Der Spiegel (22.3.07). It reports on dramatic declines in population sizes of bees in Europe and North America.
“Walter Haefeker is a man who is used to painting grim scenarios. He sits on the board of directors of the German Beekeepers Association (DBIB) and is vice president of the European Professional Beekeepers Association. And because griping is part of a lobbyist’s trade, it is practically his professional duty to warn that “the very existence of beekeeping is at stake.”
The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of causes, one being the varroa mite, introduced from Asia, and another is the widespread practice in agriculture of spraying wildflowers with herbicides and practicing monoculture. Another possible cause, according to Haefeker, is the controversial and growing use of genetic engineering in agriculture.
As far back as 2005, Haefeker ended an article he contributed to the journal Der Kritischer Agrarbericht (Critical Agricultural Report) with an Albert Einstein quote: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”
Mysterious events in recent months have suddenly made Einstein’s apocalyptic vision seem all the more topical. For unknown reasons, bee populations throughout Germany are disappearing — something that is so far only harming beekeepers. But the situation is different in the United States, where bees are dying in such dramatic numbers that the economic consequences could soon be dire. No one knows what is causing the bees to perish, but some experts believe that the large-scale use of genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor.”
March 24th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
My theory - predators, e.g. bee eating toads.
March 25th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Well, I don’t know how many bee eating toads are around in North America and whether their numbers or numbers of other bee eating predators have increased recently. So I would be cautious on this point. Considering the great importance of bees as pollinators, a well funded research effort is necessary.