Where ever I find greenery ( less nowadays :( ), I make two points- First, to look for beautiful shapes merging out of the tree branches and Second, look for the Beehives of the HoneyBees. The later pose a big problem to find. Yes its' true, Try this out yourself, it would be difficult to find any. I didn't find a single Beehive in TISS campus or anywhere else in Mumbai. The last one I saw was when I did a visit to Keshav Srushti, far away from Mumbai, in Bhayander where I had some glimpse of the nature . Does it explain the reason why Honey is getting costlier and costlier each days.??
Well....kids everywhere may reveal the fact that bees are no longer stinging them as frequently on playgrounds and in backyards. Its true, I was stung last time in 1993, some seventeen years back. What does it reveal ? THE DECLINE IN HONEYBEE POPULATION OFFCOURSE. This decline in our city and elsewhere too signals a major environmental imbalance that could have far-reaching implications for our agricultural food supply and may be a big catastrophe that we are not able to understand yet. After some research on this issue I came up with some findings that I would like to share with you
Honeybees are bred commercially for their abilities to produce honey and pollinate crops—90 different farm-grown foods, including many fruits and nuts, depend on honeybees. But in recent years honeybee populations across the cworld have plummeted by as much as 70 percent and biologists are still scratching their heads as to why and what to do about the problem which they have termed “COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER” (CCD). Imagine a world without Honeybees, the pollination process would greatly collapse and we would have a major food crisis. The nature's sweetest gift- Honey, which we won't get and what lies beneath the scene, the unexpected, that also we don't know.
Many believe that our increasing use of chemical pesticides and herbicides, which honeybees ingest during their daily pollination rounds, are largely to blame. Commercial beehives are also subjected to direct chemical fumigation at regular intervals to ward off destructive mites. Another leading suspect is genetically modified crops, which may generate pollen with compromised nutritional value.
It may be that the build-up of both synthetic chemicals and genetically modified crop pollen has reached a “tipping point,” stressing bee populations to the point of collapse. Lending credence to this theory is that organic bee colonies, where chemicals and genetically modified crops are avoided, are not experiencing the same kind of catastrophic collapses.
Bee populations may also be vulnerable to other factors, such as the recent increase in atmospheric electromagnetic radiation as a result of growing numbers of cell phones and more wireless communication towers. The increased radiation given off by such devices may interfere with bees’ ability to navigate. A small study at Germany’s Landau University ( Just Read ) found that bees would not return to their hives when mobile phones were placed nearby. Further research is currently underway to determine the extent of such radiation-related phenomena on bees and other insect populations.
Biologists also wonder if global warming may be exaggerating the growth rates of pathogens such as the mites, viruses and fungi that are known to take their toll on bee colonies. The unusual hot-and-cold winter weather fluctuations in recent years, also blamed on global warming, may also be wreaking havoc on bee populations accustomed to more consistent seasonal weather patterns.
I heard from one of my friend that the moment the honeybees would disappear from earth, one year down the line to that, the life force in the world would collapse. Kind of an unexpected and and uncomfortable remark. Right ?
Upto you now to generate an understanding and do further research into this matter.
Regards,
Dilkash
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