No...I am not talking the imported gluten fiasco that is a predictable consequence of the irresponsible Republican attack on government. I am talking about the massive and rapid die off of honeybees, the critter responsible for pollinating about 1/3 of our food supply.

Most of you won't pay much attention to this, unless you are a farmer and then you probably know how important honeybees are to crops. But most people will ignore this crisis until that 1/3 of our food supply fails.

I have been warning about this for over a year now, warning that the loss of the honeybee is a major threat to our food supply, most recently here. Each time I write about it the situation looks worse.

For awhile now honeybees have been declining alarmingly. A mite infestation seemed to be the primary cause of this decline that has worried scientists and agricultural experts alike. But starting last fall, the decline took an alarming turn, with entire colonies suddenly dying en masse in what almost looked like a bee version of AIDS. The few living bees found in hives that had died off were found to have multiple infections as if their immune system had stopped working. According to a recent article in Science, beekeepers in 26 states have lost up to 50% of their colonies this winter to CCD. Again, this is on top of earlier die offs due to mites and other infections in past years. This more recent, more dramatic die off has been called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

The alarm on this is spreading, with even America's Agriculture Secretary taking notice.

From Salon.com:

Honeybees don't just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops we have. Among them: apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons.

In fact, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Even cattle, which feed on alfalfa, depend on bees. So if the collapse worsens, we could end up being "stuck with grains and water," said Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for USDA's bee and pollination program.

"This is the biggest general threat to our food supply," Hackett said...

"This crisis threatens to wipe out production of crops dependent on bees for pollination," Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in a statement.

Global warming remains the biggest threat of our generation, but CCD is a more immediate threat to our food supply. We will be feeling this as early as next year if things continue.

Honey prices have gone up due to the die off. The almond industry in facing a crisis. But these are relatively minor to the economy as a whole. But a third of American (and world) agriculture depends on bees. The collapse of the bee population would mean a collapse in agriculture...which would be HUGELY catastrophic to our economy. No, I DON'T predict widespread hunger in the US, but it could cause a major economic crisis here and make worldwide food crises much worse.

For more info on this issue, please go here (most of their links are pdf's) and here.

Beekeepers (any out there among our readers???) are asked to participate in this survey to help monitor the situation. And to find out more about how to help protect our primary pollinator, email km@coevolution.org (the Pollinator Partnership) and ask what you can do in your area (tell them you read about it at Culture Kitchen!).