A World Without Bees, by Bryan Walsh-TIME-Cover Story, August 19, 2013

A World Without Bees, by Bryan Walsh-TIME-Cover Story, August 19, 2013

"If the bee disappears from the surface of the globe, man would have no more than four years to live."
-attributed to Albert Einstein

Please find time to read this well-written, lay article now out on news stands; it is comprehensive in nature covering honey bee biology, behavior, health -CCD and parasites, and pollination concerns. It certainly makes one think about the consequences of a loss of bees (both native and honey bees) to our environment.

Be especially cognizant of the fruits and vegetables listed that are 50% to 100% bee pollinated for crop cultivation (from almonds (100%), apples (90%), asparagus (90%), and blueberries (90%), to Watermelon (65%).  Our menus and plates and diets would be VERY bland without bees in our lives.
You can do something!  Plant bee flowers in your yard and target and only cautiously use backyard pesticides if there are no further alternatives. Ask your local university entomology extension agent or  master gardener or pest management firm for ways to manage backyard pests best, so as not to impact pollinators like bees, both native ones and the honey bee.

(See my previous blogposts regarding bee flowers and native bees.)

Thank you TIME for a great and timely article!

For more by the same author regarding the "bee-pocalypse" check out his blog at
http://science.time.com/2013/08/09/the-trouble-with-beekeeping-in-the-anthropocene/