Keep the Hives Alive
The human race depends on pollination. If you lose pollination then you lose plants and eventually you lose people. Scientists in North America have been trying to figure out why the population of honeybees has been declining and many of them concluded that it was probably due to climate change. Some bee farmers are pointing the finger at the real culprit, though: pesticides.
It has been estimated that the annual loss of honeybees due to pesticides would fill a football stadium seven feet deep with dead bees. One man has taken it upon himself to collect the experiences of beekeepers that have lost the majority of their bees and to bring those stories before policy makers to demand that the bees be protected.
According to agroecologist Jonathan Lundgren, this planet is facing some serious issues right now. When it comes to the pesticides that are toxic to the bees, these chemicals are being used in at least 13% of the land surface of North America. This is creating a situation in which it’s difficult to avoid contamination. However, he believes that the pesticide is just a symptom. The real problem is not enough diversity in the landscape and too much disturbance in the landscape.
The biological balance of the soil needs to be restored. That would diminish the need for pesticides. The first step in that process of regeneration would be to stop tilling because if farmers don’t reform the food production systems, bees are going to continue to disappear.
If the current direction isn’t changed, the soil is going to be dead and will not be able to produce crops any more. The fact that the soil presently requires additives in order to produce crops is proof that it has lost some of the fertility it once possessed.
The good news is that the solution is there. Watch this thought-provoking film now.
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