Worry About Disappearing Honey Bees Not Polar Bears 02

  In the United States, the honey bee problem and its ramifications have not even been discussed in any 2008 Presidential election event. All the presidential candidates promise the usual increasing bounty of new government spending oblivious to the fact that the disappearing honey bee crisis, if unresolved, may create huge food price inflation and food scarcity during their second presidential term in office.In the First National Beekeepers Conference in January 2008 in Sacramento, California, beekeepers complained about the lack of government action as they confront financial catastrophe. In general, United States honey bee inspection remains critically under funded, understaffed, and under appreciated. While there still is no solution to the problem of colony collapse disorder, ongoing research into the problem is focused on three main theories - pesticides (herbicides, fungicides), mono-nutrition, and viruses.

  There may be just one cause of CCD or it could be a combination of several problems. The truth is that we are not near a solution to the problem of disappearing bees from their hives since a cause has yet to be clearly identified and time may be running out. In the United Kingdom, the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) said that if the crisis continued, honeybees would disappear completely from Britain by 2018, causing "calamitous" economic and environmental problems. Unfortunately, in a recent meeting between Lord Rooker, the British farming minister, and the BBKA, the minister refused to increase spending on disappearing bee research, even though in November, he appeared to admit the severity of the threat, when he said: "If we do not do anything, the chances are that in 10 years time we will not have any honeybees".Professor Francis Ratniek, a bee expert at Sheffield University, said: "If there was to be a bee collapse the effect on Britain would be huge. In Britain we haven't had our fair share of bee research funds and research into bee disease has decreased just as the threat to colonies is increasing.

  A complete die-off is a worst case scenario".So as we proceed through this 2008 Presidential election year, people need to ask this question to the political candidates when they request our vote. What will they be doing from the White House about the disappearing honey bee to insure that we will not be on a diet of grain and fish by the end of their second term in office? If they don't know how to answer the question, don't be surprised. They may not even know about the current worldwide environmental crisis of the disappearing honey bee called Colony Collapse Disorder.The truth is that the 2008 Presidential candidates may be more concerned about the possible effects in the next century of global warming on man and its impact on the habitat of species like the polar bear. After all the candidates political platform for success on election day at the ballot box is to appear to be environmentally proactive to every voter. Indeed, for the politician in 2008, talking about saving the polar bear from melting ice next century is much preferred to talking about the catastrophic potential effect of the disappearing honey bee of today.