A friend sent this story to me the other day. I’m not sure whether I’m more concerned that reckless pesticide practices are probably to blame, or that the fate of such a large cross-section of the honeybee population–and in turn the ecology that they support–seems to be in the hands of commercial beekeepers. As I know absolutely nothing about the world of beekeeping, my questions are: How did we end up so dependent on commercial bee colonies for pollination? Is it possible that the bee disease(s) are partially a result of our over-reliance on commercial bee colonies–IE. Are the bee-keepers creating grossly unnatural living conditions such as: limited predators, reduced hybrid vigor, a generally pampered lifestyle, etc? I dunno. That whole industry sounds like a misguided attempt to control resources that ought not to be under human control.
Technorati Tags: nature, environment, agriculture, disease, sustainability
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