We need to be busy like bees to help save them
The Modesto Bee - modbee.com
Posted on Thu, Jun. 05, 2008
By Senator Barbara Boxer
Most people don’t spend much time thinking about bees.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, however, between 15 percent and 30 percent of the food we eat in the United States depends on honeybees for pollination.
Without bees, avocados, strawberries and almonds are just a few of the California crops that would suffer. Not only would yields be reduced, but so would the jobs that go with them.
The idea of a world without bees sounds farfetched, but the truth is that honeybees and other native pollinators — like bumblebees, butterflies, even bats — are in danger.
Last August, I visited an almond orchard in Merced County to meet with local farmers and beekeepers and learn more about the sudden decline in the honeybee population and its impact on our agricultural communities. Since 2006, an estimated 25 percent of the nation’s honeybees have mysteriously disappeared as a result of what the USDA calls “colony collapse disorder.”
The sudden loss of entire hives is only the latest sign of trouble in a decades-long decline. In fact, the nationwide honeybee population is estimated to have dropped from 4.5 million managed colonies in 1980 to 2.4 million in 2005.
California is uniquely threatened by this decline because healthy honeybees play a critical role in our state’s $42 billion a year agricultural economy.
For example, in 2007 California produced an estimated 1.31 billion pounds of almonds — a yield that would not have been possible without honeybees. And while sufficient bees were available to ensure a successful almond crop this year, we need urgent action to prevent further declines. It is estimated that it will take every existing colony in the United States to pollinate the projected almond crop in 2012.
But scientists still don’t conclusively know what causes colony collapse disorder. Some scientists think it might be a combination of environmental stresses on the honeybee population that causes colony collapse.
The first step to reversing the trend is adequately funding the scientific research necessary to better understand these complex natural systems.
During my visit to Merced, I announced the introduction of the Pollinator Protection Act — legislation designed to make funding available for just this kind of research. Later, I succeeded in getting this proposal included in the farm bill. And when Congress voted overwhelmingly to override the president’s veto of the farm bill, that measure became law.
The measure authorizes $100 million over five years for high-priority research dedicated to maintaining and protecting honeybees and native pollinators, effectively doubling the administration’s budget for bee research.
Addressing colony collapse disorder and the decline of pollinators will require the combined effort of the scientific, environmental and business communities. I intend to make sure the federal government does its part; establishing funding for this research is a good start.
Boxer represents California in the U.S. Senate.
This article is protected by copyright and should not be printed or distributed for anything except personal use.
Copyright © 2008, The Modesto Bee, 1325 H St., Modesto, CA 95354
Phone: (209) 578-2000.
November 20th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Dear Editor:
Warm greetings from the Philippines!
I wish to congratulate Senator Barbara Boxer for her unselfish effort to save our precious honeybees. I hope that politicians here in our country would be the same as Senator Barbara Boxer. She is concerned about the environment, agriculture and as well as the BEES. Most often, politicians here are always on grandstanding and eventually after for their self-interests.
By the way, modesty aside, I am a simple government employee and a beekeeper /hobbyist concerned also on promoting and conserving our honeybees. One of our main crops, which is coconut, is like haven for bees where it blooms all year round and nectar readily available for bees and other beneficial insects.
Once again, I would like to commend your organization for these very fruitful endeavor. More Power!
Very truly yours,
Johndom B. Domagtoy
Coconut Dev’t Officer
Philippine Coconut Authority
December 14th, 2008 at 10:01 am
It is unfortunate that at a time when we may become more dependent upon native pollinators, farmers who raise salad green for pre-packaged salads are being forced to remove native habitats adjacent to their fields. This is to reduce the “potential” that wildlife may stray into the lettuce field and spread salmonella. Pre-packaged salad companies are refusing to accept produce from fields adjacent to brush that may attract wildlife. How many conservation practices implemented by the landowner with assistance by the Natural Resource Conservation Service; such as buffer zones, native habitat, windbreaks, riparian buffers, etc, are being removed to satisfy this demand?
We are also currently losing lands that have been set aside in the NRCS Conservation Reserve Program (CRP. Set-aside contracts are not being renewed because producers are looking into raising crops for biofuels. In order to be eligible for the CRP, these lands must be erodible, not the landscape in which we would want erosion-heavy crops like corn planted.
Senator Boxer is wise to push forward legislation to fund research into honey bees and native pollinators. It looks like it could not have come at a better time!