This article was originally published by Global Research in March 2008
Commercial beehives pollinate over a third
of [North}America’s crops and that web of nourishment encompasses
everything from fruits like peaches, apples, cherries, strawberries and
more, to nuts like California almonds, 90 percent of which are helped
along by the honeybees. Without this pollination, you could kiss those
crops goodbye, to say nothing of the honey bees produce or the flowers
they also fertilize’.
1
This essay will discuss the arguments and seriousness
pertaining to the massive deaths and the decline of Bee colonies in
North America. As well, it will shed light on a worldwide hunger issue
that will have an economical and ecological impact in the very near
future.
There are many reasons given to the decline in Bees, but one
argument that matters most is the use of Genetically Modified Organisms
(GMO) and "Terminator Seeds" that are presently being endorsed by
governments and forcefully utilized as our primary agricultural needs of
survival. I will argue what is publicized and covered by the media is
in actuality masking the real forces at work, namely the impact of
genetically modified seeds on the reproduction of bee colonies across
North America
Genetically modified seeds are produced and distributed by
powerful biotech conglomerates. The latter manipulate government
agricultural policy with a view to supporting their agenda of dominance
in the agricultural industry. American conglomerates such as Monsanto,
Pioneer Hybrid and others, have created seeds that reproduce only under
certain conditions, often linked to the use of their own brands of
fertilizer and/or insecticide.
The genetic modification of the
plant leads to the concurrent genetic modification of the flower
pollen. When the flower pollen becomes genetically modified or
sterile, the bees will potentially go malnourished and die of illness
due to the lack of nutrients and the interruption of the digestive
capacity of what they feed on through the summer and over the winter
hibernation process.
I will argue that the media reports tend to distract public
opinion from the true cause which underlies the destruction of bee
colonies. As such, outlined are four major arguments which the biotech
conglomerates (which produce and market GMO seeds) have used to
mislead the public regarding the demise of the bees. These arguments
include Varroa mites, parasites, cell phones, and terminator seeds
Argument 1: Varroa mites2
Firstly, “while there are some [people who] want to pin the blame on these mites”
3,
such views are unconvincing in that the argument does not make any
sense because the main source of disease for these bees is intestinal
disease. In fact, “many bee experts assumed Varroa mites were a major
cause of the severe die-off in the winter of 2005. Yet when researchers
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Laboratory
in Beltsville, Maryland, traveled to Oakdale, California, where Anderson
and a number of his fellow beekeepers spend winter and spring, they
could find no correlation between the level of Varroa mite infestation
and the health of bee colonies. ‘We couldn’t pin the blame for the
die-off on any single cause,’ says Jeff Pettis, a research entomologist
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Laboratory
in Beltsville, Maryland,
4 However,
treatments against mites may be leaving hives open to the onslaught of
powerful pathogens, much in the same way the overuse of antibiotics lead
to super bugs”
5 in society today. What does that say about our
future? We have learned that in the 1960’s and 1970’s, among other human
ailments, DDT was a major cause of cancer in humans and animals;
however, the substitution of such pesticides was a closely guarded
secret. Unfortunately, the long term effects on the human population has
yet to be understood as the compromise of the immune system may be
happening quicker than we are ready to accept, even regarding the
advent of super bugs. One can see that even this medical implication has
severe economical implications.
Argument 2: Parasites
Secondly; “Crops and even hedges, verges, and woodlands, and
even where bees remain are sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. These
chemicals are the practical extension of an exasperating belief that
nature is our enemy. Pouring
poison on our food is a very simplistic way of dealing with our problems however it ignores the
root causes. New
genetically modified crops, designed to be immune to certain pesticides
and herbicides, have resulted in the increased usage of these
chemicals. Pesticides, particularly Bayer’s imidacloprid, a
nicotine-based product marketed under the names Admire, Provado, Merit,
Marathon, and Gaucho have been concretely implicated
6 in the destruction of bee populations before. (See also)
7. The
fact that other bees and insects are not raiding deserted hives to feed
on the honey as they normally would lends some credence to the theory
of a toxic overload”
8. The toxic overload is certainly a concern,
but wouldn’t it also need to be considered that this is systematic in
the degeneration of the digestive process, such as in humans’ inability
to digest preservatives and not absorb the enzymes to break down the
foods eaten for survival?
Argument 3: cell phones
Thirdly, “there was also a misconstrued study on cell phone radiation
9 and
its effects on the bee’s ability to navigate which turned out to be an
over-zealous unthinking reaction by an article in the Independent
[news]. Some have also mentioned other navigational hindrances such as
UV radiation, shifting magnetic fields and even quantum physics
10 as a reason to the destruction of the bees”
11.
There is certain implications to this theory, and it has been proven
that electromagnetic radio wave lengths to affect the navigation of the
bees. However the sun emits radiation spurts all the time, yet this has
not offered a hindrance to the bees.
Argument 4: Terminator Seeds
Lastly, “leaked documents seen by the Guardian show that Canada
wants all governments to accept the testing and commercialization of
“Terminator” crop varieties. These seeds are genetically engineered to
produce only infertile seeds, which farmers cannot replant, also to
mention that the bees that are trying to collect pollen, found to have
their digestive tract diseases, such as amoeba and nosema disease”
12. These
diseases are mainly located in the digestive tract system. After
studies of the autopsy, the most alarming trait is that the lower
intestine and stinger have discolored to black vs. the normal opaque
color, Synominus with colon cancer in humans.
Figure 1: Extreme discoloration of intestinal tracts of bees.
‘When
thoracic discs were cut from sample Georgia A-2 the musculature of bees
was notably soft and discolored (A) when compared to healthy thoracic
cuts (B).
This discoloration suggests that the bees were dead upon
collection. When questioned the beekeeper confirmed that the bees were
alive at the time of collection. Further, the tracheal system of these
bees did not show signs of desiccation usually associated
with the collection of dead bees. Thoracic discs from this sample,
after being placed in KOH for 24 hours, revealed peculiar white nodules”
13
As seen above, it is certain that the digestive shutdown is due
to hard material in the digestive tract that compromises the immune
system. Circulatory problems would without doubt. Could it be that
humans are going through the same process with the rise of Colon
Cancer? As seen below in the comparison of the healthy Bee and the
unhealthy bee, it is obvious that the bees that are ingesting GMO pollen
are having severe digestive problems, so severe that the disease is
terminal.
Figure 2: Digestive shutdown of the Honey Bee
The rectal contents of Georgia bees
(A) were distinctly different then the contents of Pasadena bees
(B). The rectal walls of GA bees were notably transparent revealing contents that looked like small stone packets
(C). While
Fyg (1964) describes similar stone like contents in poorly laying
queens, the stones observed in the GA bees were not attached to the
epithelium layer as Fyg (1964) describes. When these packets were ground
and mounted, some unidentified floating objects (UFO’s) were
observed. A cubic particle that resembles the cubic bodies of
polyhedrios viruses (this viruses attacks wax moths) excepting that the
cube observed was ~10x too big for a virus particle. There were
fragments of pollen grains husks in all samples examined. All PA samples
were found to have nosema spores in their rectal contents while none of
the GA samples did. In two samples, epithelial cells were packed with
spores.
14
The North American reliance on bees for pollination is at
minimum from 30 to 40%. Does it not seem obvious that the digestion
of genetic material directly affects the digestive process of the
bees? Could it also be that there are similarities in the human
population’s digestive process? It must also be noted that this
increased epidemic of the bee colony collapse has risen significantly
since the use of GMO in our foods. It is also suspect in the rise of new
cases of medical ailments in humans such as colon cancer, obesity,
heart disease, etc… In the writers’ opinion, the inability of the bees
to pass matter digestively is quite similar to the present-day problems
in the human digestive system
Conclusion:
The proof is obvious that one of the major reasons of the bees’
decline is by the ingestion of GMO proteins. This is problematic, as
there is such an increase of indigestible foods in humans and bees. The
situation of colon cancer in humans is somewhat similar in
occurrence. This is only a theory but leaves one to wonder what are we
eating en mass. The external or complementary good of the bee is
obviously a rise for a global concern. The long-term economical and
environmental impact has yet to be completely understood.
The Ecological Impact of horizontal gene transfer and increase of
rampant disease is not fully examined and if so, is kept silent by these
Conglomerates. The Economic impact of the bee colony collapse would
mean inflation, scarcity of agricultural commodities, and ultimately the
collapse of North American agriculture.
The Environmental Impact of scarcity and increased demand for
resources, will beyond doubt have severe repercussions for our long-term
food security.
The bio-diversity of the bees causes positive
economic and ecological externalities. The negative externalities have
yet to be fully grasped or understood.
Organic crops: still relatively untouched
The truth is that organic farming is relatively untouched as
the bee crisis is concerned. Organic farming maintains the diversity of
the eco-system and preserves the quality of the foods produced. The
economic impact that the scarcity of bees will potentially have on our
society as a whole is very worrisome. In the end, only our children will
fully realize; that it was greed that destroyed our beautiful blue
planet.
References:
Thill, John. Colony Collapse:
Do Massive Bee Die-Off Mean an End to Our Food System as We Know it? AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/module (Accessed 7/9/2007 10:06 PM)
Colony Collapse Disorder: Wikkapedia Encyclopedia Online
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/’
Colony Collapse Disorder’
(Accessed July 12, 2007)
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf
(Accessed June 30, 2007)
CROP PROTECTION. Monthly 28 February 2001 – Issue No 135
Market Scope Europe Ltd.
http://www.crop-protection-monthly.co.uk (Accessed July 10, 2007)
HONEY BEE Research Program. RIRDIC Honeybee Research Program
Home Page. http://rirdic. gov.au/program/hb.html#top, (Accessed July 7,
2007)
Ho, Dr. Mae-Wan.
‘Recent Evidence Confirms Risks of Horizontal Gene Transfer’. ISIS
Contribution to ACNFP/Food Standards Agency Open Meeting 13 November
2002, Institute of Science in Society, PO Box 32097, London NW1 0XR
(Accessed July 16, 2007)
ISIS Contribution. ‘
Recent Evidence Confirms Risks of Horizontal Gene Transfer”. ISIS Contribution to ACNFP/Food Standards Agency Open Meeting 13 November 2002
(Accessed July 17, 2007)
Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘
Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’;
http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/ (Accessed July, 2007)
Vidal, John.
‘Canada backs terminator seeds’, The Guardian. Wednesday, February 9, 2005.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/ (Accessed July 17, 2007)
Wilson, Dan. Lost colonies:
‘Where have the bees gone’? Appelton Post-Crescent, 5/18/2007 (Accessed July 19, 2007)
What’s Causing the Mass Disappearance of Honeybees? ‘
What is causing the Dramatic decline in Honeybee Populations in the U.S and Elsewhere in Recent years’? HealthNewsDigest.com – New York, NY, June 2, 2007
http:/www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php (Accessed July 10, 2007)
Notes
1 Hill, Scott. AlterNet, Posted on June 11, 2007, Printed on July 9, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/53491/
2
http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/06sum/bees2.asp
3 Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘
Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’; Celsias;
http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/ ‘
4 ‘The Vanishing’
http://www.nrdc.org/OnEarth/06sum/bees1.asp
5 Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘
Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’; Celsias;
http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/ ‘
6
http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/vv/stories/beedeaths.htm
7
http://independent.co.uk/environment/news/article2449968
8 Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’; Celsias;
http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/
9
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/11/26/millions_of_bees_dead_bayers_gaucho_blamed.htm
10
http://www.synchronizm.com/blog/index.php/2007/03/29/the-bees-who-flew-too-high/
11 Mackintosh, Craig. (April 13, 2007): ‘
Colony Collapse Disorder– a moment of reflection’; Celsias;
http://www.celsias.com/2007/04/13/colony-collapse-disorder-a-moment-for-reflection/
12 Vidal, John. ‘Canada backs terminator seeds’ Wednesday February 9, 2005. The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/
13 Fall Dwindle Disease: A preliminary report
http://www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf
December 15, 2006
14 Fall Dwindle Disease: A preliminary report
http://www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf
December 15, 2006