The hysteria all began in 2006 or so, when beekeepers first began noticing mysterious bee hive die-offs. It was soon christened "colony collapse disorder (gasp!)," and has been claimed to be responsible for the loss of 20 to 40 percent of managed honeybee colonies each winter over the past decade.
The math says that if you lose 30 percent of your bee colonies every year for a few years, you rapidly end up with close to zero colonies left. But instead of worrying too much, get a load of this data on the number of active bee colonies in the U.S. since 1987. Pay particular attention to the period after 2006, when CCD was first documented.
As you can see, the number of honeybee colonies has actually risen since 2006, from 2.4 million to 2.7 million in 2014, according to data tracked by the USDA. The 2014 numbers, which came out earlier this year, show that the number of managed colonies -- that is, commercial honey-producing bee colonies managed by human beekeepers -- is now the highest it's been in 20 years.
It turns out that this is simply another of the false environmental hysterias that our society seems to love so much.
Add it to acid rain, global warming, and the ozone hole as another example of the false "we are doomed" stories promoted at top volume by the Chicken Little's of our land.
So, relax and enjoy some honey on your morning toast.
Honey is good. So are bees and the people who keep them.
ReplyDeleteAt least it is the Chicken Little's not the Chickenmom's. :)
ReplyDeleteGood post.