5 replies to this topic

[eds]

One in 3 bites of food, eaten around the world depends on pollinators;
. . . these images show how bleak our plates would be,
. . . without our partners in pollination.

Beyond losing honey,
. . . without the pollination efforts of bees we'd lose,
. . . alfalfa and clover and other things that cattle feed on,
. . . meaning the loss of much of our meat and dairy.
Most alarming perhaps,
. . . is the significant amount of nutrient-rich fruits, and vegetables that we would lose,
. . . removing these important sources of plant-based nutrition from our diets,
. . . could easily lead to a drastic decline in human health.

1-27-2017 Source:  life without bees

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[Shortpoet-GTD]

Albert Einstein-
“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have

only four years of life left.

No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

[still learning]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 02 February 2017 - 04:01 AM, said:

Albert Einstein-
“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have
only four years of life left.
No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

Honeybees are really desirable creatures.
Really serious doubt that Einstein really made the above statement though.  The statement isn't true anyway.

Regarding the supposed Einstein quote, see http://quoteinvestig.../einstein-bees/

Thing is, while domesticated honeybees are vital to many crops, they're not involved in the pollination of grains (which are grasses, wind pollinated.)  See  https://honeybeesuit...ollinate-wheat/

For wild plants, according to Wikipedia "At least 100,000 species of animal, and possibly as many as 200,000, act as pollinators of the estimated 250,000 species of flowering plants in the world.^[6] "( https://en.wikipedia...iki/Pollination )

[Shortpoet-GTD]

They are in serious decline though, we all know that.
Pesticides, mites, etc. have decimated their populations.
Last year I saw one.
Year before that, I saw one.

Imo, it's similar to geese. I used to see thousands of them darkening the skies as they migrated. In recent years,
I only see groups of 20-30.
https://www.theguard...taminated-water

[still learning]

Bees not only pollinate for us and provide honey, but they can protect too.  In parts of Africa, elephants raiding crops are a real headache.
Apparently elephants don't like bees though.
Hence "bee fences."  
see http://www.mnn.com/l...nts-and-farmers
and  http://elephantsandbees.com/

[still learning]

Turns out some bumblebees are in trouble too, not just commercial honeybees.

And there are commercial bumblebees.  I had no idea.

See http://www.biographi...medium=email

And see http://www.abetterbee.com/index.html