CA Farmers Feel The Sting Of Mysterious Bee Disorder
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Davis, CA - California's almond farmers are feeling the sting of a mysterious disease that is wiping out some of their busiest workers -- the honeybee populations. The bees are needed to pollinate the almonds, which are among the state's biggest and most profitable crops.
Gabriela Chavarria, a conservation biologist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, says Colony Collapse Disorder is also putting beekeepers out of business, making the shortage even worse.
"A lot of the beekeepers are going into their hives and are discovering they don't have honeybees because they've all died. We're not going to have the right pollinators to help us to pollinate the crops for our plants and our gardens."
Chavarria says the bee shortage could also mean higher prices at the supermarket for almonds and many other foods that rely on bees for pollination.
"The fact that in the United States we're not going to have enough bees, that alone will increase the price. It will also increase the price because we're going to have to bring food from outside of the country."
Chavarria says the government should subsidize beekeepers and fund research into the cause of the disorder. Congress considered such legislation last fall, but didn't act on it. Researchers at the University of California in Davis are studying the problem and say it's likely to prove to be a combination of viruses, pesticides and global warming.
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