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WITH COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER THREATENING NY CROPS, GILLIBRAND CALLS FOR EXPEDITED REVIEW OF HARMFUL PESTICIDES TO PROTECT HONEY BEE HEALTH
Honey Bees and Other Insect Pollinators provide the Aricultural Industry with an Estimated $15 Billion Annually
July 26, 2012
Washington D.C. – With Colony Collapse Disorder decreasing the U.S. bee population by 30 percent since 2006, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today called to expedite the review of pesticides that could be inadvertently decimating honey bee populations. Honey bees are vital to the health of agricultural industries in New York as one in three bites of food is reliant on honey bee pollination. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not expected to complete their review until 2018. Senator Gillibrand urged a quicker timeframe, asking that it be completed by the end of next year.
“Our agriculture industry is vital to the upstate New York’s economy,” Senator Gillibrand said. “Our farmers need honey bees to pollinate our crops and produce. However, certain pesticides may be unintentionally killing off the honey bee population. By expediting this review, we can help save our honey bee population and grow our agricultural economies.”
The EPA is currently reviewing neonicotinoids, a class of pesticide that could be toxic to honey bees and other pollinators in high or chronic doses. Research has shown that neonicotinoids can cause disruptions in mobility, navigation, feeding, foraging, memory, learning and overall hive activity, all functions that are vital to the survival of the honey bee. This would have the potential to negatively impact almond, bluberry, pumpkin, apple and cherry crops; crops that are crucial to the economy of New York farmers. New York State has already begun to discontinue use of neonicotinoids. After reviewing the pesticides, the EPA would make any warranted regulatory changes to better protect the nation’s honey bees from harmful pesticides.
In her letter to EPA Administrator Shelia Jackson, Senator Gillibrand wrote, “Protecting honey bees and other pollinators is vital to American agriculture. In fact, one in three bites of food is reliant on honey bee pollination, and threats to pollinators concern the entire food system and could drive up the cost of food in this country. Highlighting the economic importance of pollinators, a recent study by Cornell University found that insect pollination results in a value of more than $15 billion annually.”
It's the rainy season; almost every afternoon we get drenched. In the sunny mornings, the bees have been happily sipping at the lavender, but I couldn't find any on this rainy afternoon. Picadou (pug) stayed inside, cozy in her bed. (Acapulco it ain't.)
Mexico City has long had a tradition of rooftop living. The flat rooftops are called "azoteas." Here's a classic and widely reproduced painting from the 19th century, "Las azoteas de la Ciudad de México" which shows the cathedral and the volcanos in the distance. (To my suprise-- and delight-- my publisher, Unbridled Books, included this painting in the cover design of my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. It's a little difficult to see on-line, alas.)
This delicious book by beekeeper and founder of Red Bee, C. Marina Marchese, should go to the top of the reading list for anyone who cares about honey-- and why not care about honey? It's delicious, it's nutritious, and the bees (and good beekeeping practices) help us all in so many ways, and most importantly, in pollinating major crops such as apples, almonds, blueberries, cucumbers--- you name it. The book is a mix of personal memoir (how the author got her start after a career in design, and many of her beekeeping adventures and misadventures), and advice, some of which far surpasses the everyday practical (e.g., use a Pfund color grader to evaluate color). The book also includes a glossary, bibliography, and resources. The appendices, the multilingual "Deciphering a Honey Label" and "75 Varietals of Honey" are especially useful for traveling honey aficionados.
They say beekeepers are the last cowboys. But bees are so very different from cattle. Writes Whynott, "Bees inspire, they make people imagine and dream." His Following the Bloom: Across America with the Migratory Beekepers is a delightful read about a world-- I would assume-- that has since changed dramatically with rampant suburban development and colony collapse disorder, among a multitude of challenges for the bees. Back in the 1980s, Whynott, an avid beekeeper and one-time state inspector, dropped everything to follow the migratory beekeepers, an eccentric bunch who, for the honey produced and hefty pollination fees, hauled thousands of hives across the country, from California's almond groves to North Dakota's clover to Maine's blueberry barrens, Cape Cod's cranberry bogs and Florida's orange groves. The book is deeply researched, the portraits of both the bees and their keepers vivid, and the writing poetic. More anon.
