It’s not that the honey bee population has declined in absolute terms. But in relative economic terms, the global market is more hungry than ever for honey and pollination. The major staple crops that are needed to feed the world– corn, wheat, potatoes– do not need bee pollination. The global population has doubled in the last 50 years, and production of staple crops has kept up with population. However, the world has developed a sweet tooth. And the production of pollinator-dependent crops has quadrupled, crops like watermellon, cashew, and cardamom.
The 45% increase in honeybees has not kept up with this 400% increase in demand. Not every country in the world is suffering from a low supply of honey bees. Turkey, China, and Argentina have the largest bee populations in the world. But the United States is having lots of trouble. So is Europe.
This may be the time for you to become a beekeeper so you can be the one supplying farmers. As demand increases around the world and in the US, which has been happening for decades, these honey bees will only become more valuable. Or how about getting the US Dept. of Agriculture to fund your research into finding ways to increase apiary reproduction, or how to reduce our dependency on crop pollination.
Get all the figures in Conservation Magazine
May 13th, 2010 9:14 pm
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