DISAPPEARING BEES - WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
The Wild Bee is in the business of selling organic honey. "Organic" honey. People usually look skeptical, and ask, "Isn't all honey organic?" No, it is not. That is why we are really in the business of educating people about bees, honey, and organic processing. We want you to invest in yourself. You can buy our honey or not, but you must let us give you the knowledge to go forth better prepared for the future.
Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer, writes from the Capitol area on May 2, 2007:
"Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of the nation's honeybees could have a devastating effect on America's dinner plate, perhaps even reducing us to a glorified bread-and-water diet.
"Honeybees don't just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops we have. Among them: apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons.
"In fact, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"Even cattle, which feed on alfalfa, depend on bees. So if the collapse worsens, we could end up being "stuck with grains and water," said Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for USDA's bee and pollination program.
"This is the biggest general threat to our food supply," Hackett said."
For the complete article, read: Honeybee die-off threatens food supply
No one can answer the question: "What is causing the mysterious deaths of our honeybees?" Consequently, no one has an answer for its prevention. Could it bee that DECADES of making the easy choices has led us to this day? The ease of using a chemical strip to kill off mites, the ease of regular dosing of bees with antibiotics to prevent bacterial diseases, the ease of spraying pesticides rather than contend with opportunistic insects - all these "easy" methods have provided us with bountiful harvests, beautiful fruits and vegetables, and less manual labor. Flip side: we are weakening the very system that we depend on! The bees are the first to suffer, then our crops will not pollinate, the livestock will run low on feed, and us? What will happen to our food supply? our economy? our environment? our society? Ultimately, whatever is happening to the bees, what will happen to us? THINK ABOUT IT!!!!
It is easy to take for granted that we can go to the market and buy food. What will happen to us when food becomes a luxury item? I do not think this problem happened overnight. Rather than letting our honeybees adapt to our ever-changing environment, we forced them to produce more honey by protecting them from these environmental changes using chemicals and antibiotics. In other words, instead of letting nature take its course, we intervened with a temporary fix. I think it has just now reached critical mass, and we are witnesses to the cumulative effects of years of doing the wrong thing. It is time for us all to do the RIGHT thing.
What can you do? Anything! Just do something. Write me. Call me. Email me. Contact your local beekeeping organization. Write/call/email your legislators. Recycle. Buy organic. Learn about bees. Learn about pollination. Learn about food. Learn about what you are putting in your body. Tell someone else what you have learned. Teach your kids. Read labels. Ask questions. Don't use anything artificial. Don't eat anything artificial. Don't put anything artificial on your body. LEARN WHAT I MEAN BY "ARTIFICIAL!" Stop putting chemicals on your lawns and your gardens. Sacrifice artificial perfection for ultimate health - it will pay off.
Do not be misled by the seriousness of this situation. Our bees are dying. If we loose them, how long do we have? How will the experts resolve this? More GMO food? Self-pollinating crops? Does that sound like the right answer or just more of the same "solution" that got us to this point?
What can we do? We will continue our organic crusade. We have to be kind to our environment. We have to treat our Earth gently or she will respond harshly and apparently quickly. We will spread the message: SAVE THE BEES! And by saving the bees, we may ultimately be saving ourselves.
After all that being said, our original home page and Vision Statement sound a bit simplistic, but we include it now so you will know that we are as determined as ever to proceed as we have always instictively felt necessary:
Welcome to a new world of honey! The Certified Organic Active Manuka found only in New Zealand is known world-wide for its superior antibacterial healing qualities. Organic Manuka is truly a taste sensation!
New Zealand produces 9,000 tons of honey annually and its citizens are the world's largest consumers of honey at 2 kg per person each year! The Wild Bee has gone to the bottom of the globe to bring you these quality bee products. We hope that you agree that New Zealand Honey is some of the finest on the planet!
One-third of food crops need insect pollination in order to produce fruits and vegetables. The honey bee is the most reliable source of pollination. Without our little bees to help, farming would become much harder. Albert Einstein speculated that "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left." Let's keep our bees safe, healthy, and organic! And eat lots of honey!
Please feel free to contact us with questions or comments:
Phone:
(336) 605-9713
Mail:
PO Box 19544
Greensboro, NC 27419-9544
Email: info@thewildbee.com
