Is This a Case of "The Right Hand Not Knowing What the Left Hand is Killing?”

Honey Bee Kill-Off in Brevard County Florida

Several million bees have been found dead in over 400 hives in the last week in Brevard County, Florida.  There isn’t any clear explanation as to the cause of the die-off, but it is believed by some to be the result of the use of chemical pesticide sprays over large areas to control mosquitoes.

County officials doubt the controlled spraying killed the bees even though all evidence indicates such.  But, Bill Kern of the University of Florida’s Research and Education Center said, “The fact that” the kill-off “was so widespread and so rapid, I think you can pretty much rule out disease.  It happened essentially almost in one day.  Usually diseases affect adults or the brood, you don’t have something that kills them both.”

Why is this story so significant?  Because either way – whether by disease or by poisoning – the affects are serious enough that each one of us should be alarmed.  If the bees died as a result of disease, you can bet it won’t stop at Brevard County.  If it is a matter of poisoning, it is a horrible reminder of just how shortsighted our “officials” are spraying for mosquitoes and negligently failing to understand how devastating “controlled spraying” is on an ecosystem.  Mosquitoes aren’t the only insects dying, and bees are only visible because of their importance to the food chain.  How many hundreds of thousands other insect species were wiped out? 

There have been too many bee-die offs here in the US and elsewhere, each one affecting food production and the food supply in America.  (See Colony Collapse Disorder below.) The only thing any single person can do about this is to choose not to contribute to what the “officials” are already doing.  Consciously choose NOT to use any form of lethal pesticides on your backyard gardens and lawns, and stay aware!  We NEED the bees to pollinate our crops so they produce food and we can’t afford to allow them to be killed off.  In this case ignorance is not bliss it is lethal.

 

Florida Wires, 10/1/11, http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/30/2432240/state-investigates-death-of-millions.html

FloridaToday.com, 9/1/11, http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110930/NEWS01/309300018/Mysterious-south-Brevard-bee-kill-confounds-costs-keepers?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CLocal%20News

UPI.com, 9/30/11, http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/09/30/Bees-mysteriously-die-in-Florida-county/UPI-61721317416699/?spt=hs&or=tn