This isn't about an anti-war song from the 60s, it is an important issue that is beginning to seriously affect the agriculture industry from the small farmers all the way up to the big corporations. The fact is, most of our produce comes from flowering plants that need bees to pollinate them in order for everything to work out so we can keep munching and the same goes for the diets of livestock. The problem is, the bees are starting to disappear all over the country, even here in New York City.
From The New York Daily News:
Scientists are baffled by a mysterious plague called Colony Collapse Disorder that has been blamed for wiping out beehives across the country, and now it's stinging some city beekeepers.
"I'm waiting for bees to come through the mail. I've lost quite a few hives," said David Graves, a 57-year-old beekeeper from Massachusetts who keeps hives on the roofs of buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Ninety percent of his hives were wiped out last year, forcing Graves to raise the price of his boutique brand NYC Rooftop Honey he sells at the Union Square Greenmarket from $12 to $15 per half pound.
That rooftop honey is some good stuff and the rising price of local honey products is the least of our problems. Many beekeepers are reporting losses ranging from 30 to 90 percent of their hives. Commercial beekeepers livelihoods depend on being able to pollinate huge swaths of farmland all over the country and if they don't have the bees, there is no business to be had.
The causes for the epidemic are purely speculative at this point. Experts believe that pesticides are the most probable suspect, but no one knows for sure. No matter what the reason, the problem has become a huge cause for beekeepers, farmers and sooner or later more and more consumers will start to feel the effect at their local grocery store.
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