BEES NEED US NOW TO HELP US ...

Honeybees are responsible for one-third of our food supply, yet they are disappearing at a startling rate in a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD The documentary “Vanishing of the Bees” takes a piercing investigative look at the economic, political and ecological implications of the worldwide disappearance of the honeybee, and it’s viewable here FREE, for a limited time CCD is most likely the result of a constellation of factors, one of the largest being the growing contamination of their hives with pesticides, especially the newer systemic pesticides, or neonicotinoids Bees appear to be suffering catastrophic effects after exposure to even low levels of certain pesticides, including inability to fight off infections, nervous system damage, disorientation and impaired navigation Bees are increasingly being raised “factory farm” style with artificial food, artificial insemination, and grossly unnatural hive conditions that further stress the colony, highlighting an urgent need to return to more natural beekeeping traditions. Since 2007, North American honey bees are literally disappearing without a trace. There are no massive dead bee bodies appearing in or around the hives—the bees are simply GONE, bewildering beekeepers and scientists alike. In fact, serious honey bee die-offs have been occurring around the world for the past decade. The U.S. and the U.K. both reported losing a third of their honey bees in 2010. Italy lost half of theirs. The die-offs have spread to China and India, in addition to many other countries. Environmental scientists are concerned that CCD reflects a far more serious problem than pollination—that it's an ominous sign of severe environmental crisis. Bees provide pollination for crops, orchards and flowers, and make honey and wax for cosmetics, food and medicine. One of every three bites of food you eat depends on the honey bee. They pollinate at least 130 different crops in the U.S. alone, including fruits, vegetables and tree nuts. Without honey bees, farmers would have to resort to pollinating their crops by hand. According to a recent British report, replacing the pollination of food crops that bees do for free with hand pollination would cost the UK £1.8 billion per year.