– by Kate Nicholson
Sitting in the garden in the warm sun, drowsily listening to the hum of bees buzzing around the lavender flowers…that’s my idea of a perfect way to spend a summer day.
But it’s an idea that’s threatened. And it’s not just the tranquility of a moment that’s at stake.
I read an alarming article in the Guardian online this morning about the declining population of bees. Apparently for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of bee colonies in the USA have failed to survive the winter. One of the reasons scientists think is causing the problem (and it seems obvious to me) is the indiscriminating use of pesticides. The article states:
US scientists have found 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax, and pollen, lending credence to the notion that pesticides are a key problem. “We believe that some subtle interactions between nutrition, pesticide exposure, and other stressors are converging to kill colonies,” said Jeffery Pettis, of the ARS’s bee research laboratory…
Most people are probably not going to be surprised by this. But they probably don’t have a sense of how serious the situation is.
Dave Hackenberg of Hackenberg Apiaries, the Pennsylvania-based commercial beekeeper who first raised the alarm about CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder), said that last year had been the worst yet for bee losses, with 62% of his 2,600 hives dying between May 2009 and April 2010. “It’s getting worse,” he said. “The AIA survey doesn’t give you the full picture because it is only measuring losses through the winter. In the summer the bees are exposed to lots of pesticides. Farmers mix them together and no one has any idea what the effects might be.”
This is not just something that may mean you won’t be able to put honey on your toast or in your raw food desserts. The loss of these little creatures would have an immeasurable impact on the way humans, plants, and animals live. The article goes on to say:
Their extinction would mean not only a colourless, meatless diet of cereals and rice, and cottonless clothes, but a landscape without orchards, allotments and meadows of wildflowers – and the collapse of the food chain that sustains wild birds and animals.
Meat I can happily live without, but can you imagine a world without greenery? Without gardens, parks, lush countryside? Without green smoothies? Yet another compelling reason to buy organic produce …and to be grateful for the wonderful little pollinators that are so importanat to our ecosystems.
One of my favourite pick-me-up smoothies (which I needed after reading that article) is the following. It incorporates bee pollen, which is one of the most amazing ‘superfoods’ – sometimes referred to as the ‘fountain of youth’! People who regularly consume bee-pollen experience an increase in energy, zest and physical endurance and it has been linked to weight loss and prevention of cancer amongst a host of other benefits.
Hope you enjoy it!
The Bee Grateful Green Smoothie…
Juice:
¼ pineapple- 2 apples
- a few good handfulls of kale
- ½ lemon (unwaxed, with peel)
- ¼ cucumber and a few stalks of celery.
Add the juice to the blender with:
- ½ an avocado
- a handfull of spinach.
Blend. Pour over ice and spinkle the bee pollen on top for a delicious extra helping of rejuvenation!
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