Honey Bees' mystery die off will lead to higher food prices
Pastor Dale Morgan
Honey Bees' mystery die off will lead to higher food prices*
* Story Highlights
* Farmers say decline of honeybees could lead to higher food prices
* Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion annually in crop value
* Lack of bees may force elimination of certain Haagen-Dazs ice
cream flavors
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food prices could rise even more unless the
mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told
lawmakers Thursday.
"No bees, no crops," North Carolina grower Robert D. Edwards told a
House Agriculture subcommittee. Edwards said he had to cut his cucumber
acreage in half because of the lack of bees available to rent.
About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other
pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is responsible for
$15 billion annually in crop value.
In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of
their hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse
Disorder. Scientists do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers
have lost 36 percent of their managed colonies this year. It was 31
percent for 2007, said Edward B. Knipling, administrator of the
Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service.
"If there are no bees, there is no way for our nation's farmers to
continue to grow the high quality, nutritious foods our country relies
on," said Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, chairman of the
horticulture and organic agriculture panel. "This is a crisis we cannot
afford to ignore."
Food prices have gone up 83 percent in three years, according to the
World Bank.
Edward R. Flanagan, who raises blueberries in Milbridge, Maine, said he
could be forced to increase prices tenfold or go out of business without
the beekeeping industry. "Every one of those berries owes its existence
to the crazy, neurotic dancing of a honey bee from flower to flower," he
said.
The cause behind the disorder remains unknown. Possible explanations
include pesticides; a new parasite or pathogen; and the combination of
immune-suppressing stresses such as poor nutrition, limited or
contaminated water supplies and the need to move bees long distances for
pollination.
Ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs and natural personal care products company
Burt's Bees have pledged money for research and begun efforts to help
save the bees.
The problem affects about 40 percent of Haagen-Dazs' 73 flavors,
including banana split and chocolate peanut butter, because ingredients
such as almonds, cherries and strawberries rely on honey bees for
pollination.
Katty Pien, brand director for Haagen-Dazs, said those ingredients could
become too scarce or expensive if bees keep dying. It could force the
company to discontinue some of its most popular flavors, Pien said.
Haagen-Dazs has developed a new limited-time flavor, vanilla honey bee,
and will use some of the proceeds for research on the disorder. Burt's
Bees has introduced Colony Collapse Disorder Lip Balm to "soften your
lips while saving honeybees."
The House Appropriations Committee approved $780,000 on Thursday for
research on the disorder and $10 million for bee research. The money
awaits approval by the full House and Senate.