A world without bees

I’m feeling pretty melancholic today (lucky you!) so I thought I’d finally write the blog post I’ve been meaning to write ever since I signed the petition to save the bees (click on "petition" to sign it!). What are we doing to this planet? Why do the bees need to be saved?  Furthermore, why do the birds need to be saved? Why do the crabs need to be saved? Why do the cows need to be saved? Why do the fish need to be saved? Why does the coral need to be saved? Sometimes I feel so helpless that signing a petition seems to be the only thing I can do to make a difference.  It's just a "signature" and it only takes a minute so why not?!? (I am now compelled to research how successful petitions are at bringing about change...a blog post for another day!)

I’m not one to follow the news because it’s too depressing and I don’t understand what good can come out of me knowing about terrorists blowing up an airport and killing 35 people, or about car accidents that killed 3 people, or about a man who left his dog in the car in -35 degree weather but unfortunately, the news is everywhere so I can’t help but feel saddened and helpless when I see the following headlines:

2,000,000 dead fish wash-up in Maryland

4,000 red-winged blackbirds fall from the sky

10,000 cows drop dead in Vietnam

Massive Indonesia coral die-off

40,000 crabs found dead on the shores of England 

Today, I read about the mass bird die-off in South Dakota which is saddening enough but knowing that the United States Department of Agriculture has admitted to poisoning (and killing!) the starlings because they were eating the feed and leaving waste on the feed and equipment at a cattle feedlot was enraging!  What the hell? Is Monsanto running the country now?  Rise up people, this is abominable!!!

I’ve really not tried not to pass too much judgment on people who spray their lawns with pesticides to get rid of that "monstrous" dandelion (beauty is in the eye of the beholder!) while poisoing you, me, our children and our pets in the process but come on, intentionally killing over 300 birds (so far!)...that’s just preposterous!!!

The good news is that this isn’t an apocalypse (or aflockalypse as I’ve had the pleasure of reading), we are the cause of these brutal mass killings...we are poisoning this planet and the results are deadly!

These mass killings (or die-offs as the media have reported) have me thinking about a book that changed my life.  Do you have a book, a quote, a poem or a movie that had a significant impact on your life? Well, for me it was Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto (seriously! but that's a blog post for another day!) and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

Ms. Carson inspired me to be compassionate, to love and appreciate nature, and to become a steward of our planet which subsequently sparked a particular obsession interest in pesticides. She educated people about pesticides while fighting the naysayers and the pesticide industry with the hope that the world would concede that these chemicals were not only killing animals and birds but humans too. I was convinced that I would write a follow-up to Silent Spring when I was "older" so I could continue Ms. Carson's fight to eradicate chemical pesticides or posssibly even discover a natural pesticide (she passed away in 1964).  That book had such a profound impact on me! She was such a pioneer, so passionate and compassionate and she made me believe that one person can make a difference. Some say that she was the founder of the modern environmental movement...I believe it! She fought the pesticide industry and won (unfortunately Monsanto still exists!). It wasn’t easy but she persevered. The book was published in 1962 and in 1972 the pesticide DDT was banned in the US (that was a very good year for many reasons!!!). The title Silent Spring was meant for us to imagine a spring season without the sound of birds because they had all disappeared as a result of pesticide use. The title was inspired by a poem by John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci" which contained the lines "The sedge is wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing”.  Because of Ms. Carson, we continue to be blessed with nature’s music (thank you Rachel Carson!!!). With the bees in the news lately, I can’t help but wonder what Ms. Carson would think (and feel!).

So what is happening with the bees? I’ve been hearing about colonies of bees dying off for many years but it seems to be in the news again (ugh!).  Before I get to the headlines, here are some documentaries to check out when you get the chance: The Vanishing Bees and Pollen Nation.

So the latest headlines about the bees include:

Bees facing a poisoned spring: New kind of pesticide, widely used in UK, may be helping to kill off the world's honeybees

Bees Builds Buzz Around What's Killing Off Honey Bees (If you're checking out the article, don't forget to sign another petition!)

In 2007, Nature, a program on PBS, produced a documentary called Silence of the Bees and although I wasn’t able to view the full episode on the PBS website (you might be able to though!), I found clips on You Tube. I’ve posted the Preview so if you’re interested go ahead and search You Tube for the full video (I was able to watch it in 6 parts). It’s uplifting to see these little creatures working so dilligently and to better understand their importance economically and ecologically all while being fascinated by their biology (they do, however, make me feel lazy!).

The reality is that if we continue to use pesticides, we could potentially eliminate all pollinators (that would be disastrous!!!). Who wants to pollinate a flower that has been poisoned with chemicals (pesticides!)? Would you? So why would we expect the bees to do that? What about genetically modified seeds? What impact are they having on pollination? Who wants to pollinate with a genetically modified being? Would you? (Oh how I curse you Monsanto!!!). 

When I read (and re-read and re-read and re-read!!) Silent Spring, I struggle to imagine a world without birds but what about a world without bees? How would we ever talk about “the birds and the bees”, if there were no bees? What would I use to sweeten my tea, if there were no bees? What would cause me to run away screaming hysterically “the bee is after me”, if there were no bees? What balm would I use to soften my lips, if there were no bees, thus no Burt’s Bees? How would you tell someone to "mind their own beeswax", if there were no bees? What would we say instead of “you’re such a busy bee”, if there were no bees? And finally, what would people call me instead of “Queen Bee”, if there were no bees?

P.S. Happy birthday to my BFF’s honey :)