In one of Einstein’s relatively unknown ponderings, he predicted it would take four years for human society to be eradicated, should honey bees become extinct. The latter is now becoming a reality, as honey bees are mysteriously dying off.
Honey production therefore, has reached crisis level. There are problems world wide with crops not being pollinated and honey harvests are decreasing. Stuart Bailey of Rowse Honey in the UK said,
“By Christmas there will be no English honey in the supermarkets. I’m absolutely sure, because we’re just not getting the honey in from the beekeepers.
“So we will have to import more in from abroad. That’s tragic. Imagine if that were a permanent scenario: if there are no British honey-bees, there’ll be no British honey on the shelves.”
An on-line forum has been set up by people very concerned about the consequences this will have on the Earth,
“The bees are showing us something here, it is a clear warning. We need to pay attention!”
“For many fruiting crops, bee loss is a big, big deal.
“Gardeners and those with backyard landscapes, please grow bee habitat, and do it without pesticides, both for honeybees and for native bees.”
However, Jon Davey, chairman of Reading and District Beekeepers’ Association says there is no need to start panicking about the world ending just yet. He does think the situation cannot be ignored though, but with a concerted effort from the beekeepers, things can turn around.
“Bees go back to the age of the dinosaur. We don’t know why some things happen,” he says. For example, there are a lot of bumble-bees around this year. We don’t know why.
“Why honeybees are disappearing, who knows? Maybe they tune into an ethereal buzzing? How can we say?
“It’s not good but I should think the bees will survive providing there are beekeepers to help them.”
It is an out-dated view that wild bees produce hives of amber nectar in the woods in the UK. The industry therefore relies on beekeepers to provide us with honey as well as maintaining what is essentially a fundamental link in the eco-system. Unlike some crops which are pollinated by the wind, pears, cherries, raspberries, apples, strawberries, blackcurrants, broad and runner beans as well as oilseed rape rely on bees to pollinate them.
There are two major threats to bees to take into contemplation - first of all the varroa mite - a parasite that has been around for 15 years, which beekeepers are trying - but more often than not failing - to keep under check. The second is the bain of many a Brit’s life - the awful British summers.
Bee-keepers are doing their bit, attending seminars on controlling the pesky varroa mites. Davey is also raising awareness, travelling around visiting country shows and providing keepers with a ‘hotline’ for dealing with a variety of issues. However, to really tackle the problem, Davey says, more research is needed.
Recent research by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) reported that nearly a third of the UK’s honey bee hives did not make it through the winter.
The BBKA are asking the government for the modest sum of £8 million throughout a five year period to fund research into honey bee losses and to improve bee health - a worthy investment considering the role honey bees have on pollination and the wider eco-system.
So far the only response has been from Rowse Honey, who have pledged £100,000 over the next three years for the cause.
Honey harvesting is no longer nothing more than a hobby for quaint bee-keepers. It is now a world-wide vetted interest. Only time will tell if Einstein was right.
