More Bee Deaths

Twenty-nine percent of the deaths were attributable to CCD; the remaining 71 percent were the more common culprits like parasitic mites and pesticides. Taken as a whole, the numbers show an increasingly weak population which will have a more difficult time pollinating on a commercial scale. While the deaths have certainly driven up the price of honey, the real economic danger comes when flowing food crops—including many fruits and vegetables—go unpollinated and yields begin to fall. As Dennis vanEnglesdorp, a bee specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture puts it, “For two years in a row, we’ve sustained a substantial loss,” he said. “That’s an astonishing number. Imagine if one out of every three cows, or one out of every three chickens, were dying. That would raise a lot of alarm.” Via PhysOrg