Things aren't going well for the honey bees right now. Currently they're being hit with a disease called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which is having a very negative impact on bee population. Unfortunately, while there is some speculation towards why this is happening, the real cause is still unknown. The only fact that is definite is that honey bees are declining in population, and if this continues, there will be a negative consequence for people as well.
Besides natural wax and honey, bees have another important resource that they contribute to--pollination. Bees, as reported in this article and as stated by the US Department of Agriculture, "pollinate 80% of our flowering crops which consitute 1/3 of everything we eat." This means a wide range of foods that we consume may be in short supply if we keep losing honey bees. And an effect on agriculture may have even farther reaching consequences (the above article mentions that it could even affect dairy and meat production, because cattle depend on plants like alfalfa, which would be affected by the bee crisis.)
If this situation were to be applied to a supply and demand chart (with quantity and price of produce), the demand would stay the same, but because of a lack of input due to the honey bee crisis, the supply curve would shift to the left. Price would therefore increase because of the lack of supply, making certain foods and other related items more expensive and less available.
Ironically enough, one of the postulated reasons to why bees are doing so poorly is genetically modified crops, which, according to this EarthTalk article, "may generate pollen with compromised nutritional value." So the crops that we modify to better suit our nutritional needs may, in the long run, be endangering one of our most important natural pollinators.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with the authors analysis of the supply and demand effects of a honey-bee shortage. This is definentally something we should act on before it is too late.
ReplyDeleteE
I never really thought that a little honey bee could really have an impact on the economy. Like stated above, even the meat and dairy production would probably go up in price too because the price of food for the animals is so high. Genetically modified crops may yield more crop production and in some cases better nutrients, but if the crops cannot be pollinated the crops are no good. If crop production falls in the United States, we might have to import more crops to meet the demand of our country. (A)
ReplyDeleteYou must think about the basics! We usually forget about fundamental variables of our existence; we take them for granted.
ReplyDeleteAddressing the GM crops...Perhaps since bees have short life spans, they will quickly evolve to meet their needs of survival. Since GM crops are just as easy to grow as non genetically modified crops, it would be easy to stop producing them if the bees did not survive. T
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat? No more honey. This seems like a domino effect to me, since the bees are not going to pollinate certain plants that other animals feed off then those animals will be affected and eventually die causing a decrease on the supply side for meat and other products. With the technology available to us today I think we would eventually find a replacement for the bees pollen. E.A
ReplyDeleteI think that this really underlines the dangers of all the unknowns about GMO crops. In other countries, especially in the EU they have taken a more wary stance, questioning the long term effects of GMOs. Americans have such a quick fix mentality when in comes to investments. We would rather patch up now the issue and not look down the road toward what later implications will be. Economically our markets would completely shut down if we did not have the honey bee to pollinate our plants. Not to mention the starvation of millions.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. I'd definitely heard about the bee problem before, ut not the theory about the modified crops. I think that will prove an interesting debate, if they can prove this, for whether to continue research into modified crops such as the article the other day about soybeans and sunflowers. Would there be a greater profit and less loss from continuing with modified plants, or saving the bees?
ReplyDeleteThis will definitely affect a great deal of the U.S. economy because we have a lot of agriculture.
This reminds me of a saying (although I'm not sure whether the statement is valid) which states that honey bees are going to extinct in ten years, and human will also face extinction four years after that. I do agree and believe that it may generate a huge impact on the economy if honey bees' population declines a lot, since species are so closely realted.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Einstein, without bees humans wouldn't last more than 4 years. The reasons for this have all been stated above already, but I remembered this prediction from my high school green team and thought I'd share.
ReplyDeleteOne explanation for Honey Bee disappearances is the texting signals. Does anyone know how likely this is? If that is the cause it would obviously be a clear fix--no more texting period--but I would be really worried because phone service providers will never agree to that voluntarily.
ReplyDelete"If this situation were to be applied to a supply and demand chart (with quantity and price of produce), the demand would stay the same, but because of a lack of input due to the honey bee crisis, the supply curve would shift to the left. Price would therefore increase because of the lack of supply, making certain foods and other related items more expensive and less available."
ReplyDeleteThis explains the economic impact very well.
How do we solve it?
Genetically modify our crops better....or cut back on them. The question is, have we grown dependent on them to the point where we'll be hurt even more if we cut back?
T, A