NY Times Reports That US Honeybee Decline Is Accelerating

Bee Goddess and priest/priestess dressed as bees
from ancient Sumeria

If you lost nearly half of anything, you would be concerned. When the item in question in the nation's honeybee population, the concern becomes elevated. Bees are essential to pollination. Their decline has caught the attention of the scientific and agricultural communities, which have now taken some steps to measure the number of bees buzzing around the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

According to a report in today's New York Times, a survey of American beekeepers showed a loss of 42 percent of their honeybees in the past twelve months. That loss is roughly eight percentage points higher than in the prior two years.

There are a number of suspected culprits impacting the dwindling bee population. Neonicotinoids, used in pesticides, are prime candidates. Western Europe has notably been vary wary about neonicotinoid use and has banned use of certain of them. A mite has also been cited as a factor in the vanishing bee caper. Of course, the loss of wildflowers in the environment is a disaster for bees, as well as other members of the animal kingdom.

We have bees that frequent our flowers during the warmer months. They're heartening to see and hear. I don't mind that their presence can occasionally be inconvenient. Bees are doing God's work, so to speak. Let the bees be.