Caring for others has been highlighted by Pope Francis as the central focus of the Christian life. In his inaugural homily he called on “all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life” to “not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world” and for ordinary people to become the protectors of humanity: It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live.”
One creature which needs particular care is the European honey bee (apis mellifera). It is believed that the honey bee originated in Africa and spread to northern Europe, India, and China. The honey bee is not native to North America, but was brought there by the first colonists. The honey bee is now distributed world-wide.
However, the future looks bleak for this creature. During the past few years, bees have been dying and hives have been collapsing at an extraordinary rate. Traditionally, beekeepers might lose 5-10% of their bees. But after colony collapse disorder surfaced around 2005, the losses approached one-third of all bees, despite beekeepers’ best efforts to ensure their health. In some situations in North America beekeepers have lost 40 to 50% of their hives during the past few months.[1]
As of April 2013, there is no conclusive explanation of the collapse of the honeybee. Some blame the varrora mite (varrora destructor) – a parasite which attaches itself to the body of the bee and weakens the insect and leads to a disease called varroatosis. More and more the finger of blame is turning towards a new class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. These new, nicotine-derived pesticides are systemic, which means that they persist throughout the life of the plant. Scientists have demonstrated that exposure to these chemicals can damage the bees’ brain functions, including the bees’ ability to home in on the hive. [2]
Older pesticides could also kill bees and other beneficial insects. But while they quickly degraded — often in a matter of days — neonicotinoids persist for weeks and even months. Beekeepers worry that bees carry a summer’s worth of contaminated pollen and nectar to hives. They continue to eat this pesticide-laden pollen and nectar during the winter and, whereas eating it once or twice may not be too dangerous, eating it continually is fatal. Many point to the fact that the growth in the use of neonicotinoids since their introduction in 2005, has roughly tracked the rising number of bee deaths.[3]
The producers of the two most widely-used neonicotinoids – Syngenta and Bayer CropScience – dispute the claims that their pesticides are callusing the problem. However, they insist that they would be willing to undertake further studies to clarify what is going on.
Beekeepers are also unhappy with the role played by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which approved the chemicals in question in the first instance. In March the EPA sent its acting assistant administrator for chemical safety and two chemical experts to the San Joaquin Valley in California to discuss the matter with both beekeepers and the owners of the almond orchards. 1.6 million hives are needed to pollinate the wide expanse of 800,000 acres. 80% of the U.S’s almonds are grown in California and much of that is exported, so the almond industry is hugely important to California’s economy
In mid-March, environmental groups and beekeepers sued the Environmental Protection Agency to persuade it to withdraw its approval of two of the most widely-used neonicotinoids. The agency has begun an accelerated review of their impact on bees and other wildlife. The European Union has proposed to ban their use on crops frequented by bees. Some researchers have concluded that neonicotinoids caused extensive die-offs in Germany and France.
The plight and very survival of the European honey bee has implications not just for beekeepers and farmers. Bees pollinate many fruits and vegetables. The U.S. Agriculture Department estimates that one quarter of the American diet from apples to cherries to water melons depend on having bees to pollinate the crops. Fewer honeybees will mean smaller harvests which, in turn will lead to serious increases in the price of food right across the globe.
[1] Michael Vines, “ Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms,” The New York Times, March 28, 2013http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/science/earth/soaring-bee-deaths-in-2012-sound-alarm-on-malady.html?hp&pagewanted=print
[2] The editorial, “Calamity for our Beneficent Insect,” The New York Times, April 6th 2013. www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/opinion/sunday/calamity-for-our-most-beneficent-insect.Html?+rechp&_r=0&pagewanted=print
[3] ibid