An appeal from the Honey Bee

(Buzzing...)

Have you ever imagined the world without me? Have you started looking alternative sources for your food? Among all the potential reasons for human race extinction, have you considered that one could be: “pollination crisis”? Do you remember how Einstein sagely reported my evanescence?

No?

Start exploring the answers to all these questions, because it’s always better to know the reasons before you embrace the severe consequences. Let me help you with an excerpt from Einstein. Once he said: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, No more pollination....No more men!”

As you would realize, I am an “Angel of Agriculture” and I am here to plead before you humans to save us and also to alert you for your activities that are making this planet uninhabitable. To remind you, this is not just your planet, but ours as well. Each species exists, because their life has a meaning. In fact, we share the communal responsibility to be in a harmony conducive to everyone’s healthy existence.

Ages back, your ancestors learned to sustain life with agriculture. For a long time, all species, from insects to plants to people, coexisted in natural stability and peace. Everything was full of life! As time progressed, you introduced agro-industrialization, which paved the way for your remarkable developments in agriculture. This indeed catered to your food security, but, it fundamentally disturbed the balance of our lives.

My race is diminishing swiftly since last four to five years; and the cause for our dying is still a mystery. As you know, ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ has posed a big threat to us worldwide in recent times. It has been taking a huge toll on my working daughters. Most of our colonies in the wild have already died. Without much beekeepers caring for us, I am scared that my species might vanish in a few years.

Now, you might wonder: “What it would mean to you?”

            If I disappear, your diets will be diminished. I directly or indirectly pollinate one in three bites of your food. My single hive pollinate around half a million plants a day. I perform this vital ecological service for your agricultural crops. Also, I provide you the most ethical, medicinal and dynamic sweetener: Honey.

            Then, you might be thinking: “Why did we suddenly succumb to this nasty disorder?”

One key concern behind this epidemic is the substantial loss of acclimatisable habitats and resources due to agricultural industrialization. You extensively use pesticides and dump massive amounts of poison in soil. This poison further enters into our food chain through our food; pollen and nectar, causing us problems with mobility, paralysis and even death. Somebody cleverly defined my relationship with the flower:

“For bees, the flower is the fountain of life and

For the flower; the bee is a messenger of love”

And now you imagine, if my fountain is lethal, how would we survive? After visiting such flowers, we do not get essential nutrients and often go malnourished. Further, it interrupts our digestive capacity and we die. In most parts of the world, erratic climate change limits our food supplies, because either plants blossom early or do not flower at all.

All these factors cumulatively reduce our immune system and make us vulnerable to newly introduced yet devastating parasites. This is the primary reason why our colonies are being wiped out. If you continue assaulting the environment with this disturbing magnitude, we might disappear from this planet, never to come back. And my footprints will be followed by birds, animals and finally, you.

Ultimately, here is a brief but impactful “Plan of Action” to save my bee world:

         Grow Organic. This sustains the diversity of our eco-system and conserves the natural essence of the food produced, without letting poisons intervene in the food chain.

I love garden flowers. They make my diet diverse and delicious. I urge you to prefer meadows over lawns. Grow flowering plants, herbs and vegetables in your backyard and encourage me to visit your garden.

Beekeepers are fascinating people. They spend most of their time nursing our colonies. Unfortunately, they lack information to combat my diseases. I know that studying this complicated disorder is a bit tricky and costs lots of money, but your investment in me in terms of research is the only way to save your future.

Please, volunteer to save me! Get involved in my science: read books, join forums, spread the word for my conservation and ask for help.

Reconnect with nature. Your relation is integral to our very existence and key to ecological conservation. So, help us make this earth a heavenly abode.

(Buzzing fades...)