A Quote From Albert Einstein

"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 plants, no more animals, no more man."


COLLAPSING COLONIES
Are GM Crops Killing Bees?

By Gunther Latsch
A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and the economy could be enormous.

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The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of causes, one being the varroa mite, introduced from Asia, and another is the widespread practice in agriculture of spraying wildflowers with herbicides and practicing monoculture. Another possible cause, according to Haefeker, is the controversial and growing use of genetic engineering in agriculture.

As far back as 2005, Haefeker ended an article he contributed to the journal Der Kritischer Agrarbericht (Critical Agricultural Report) with an Albert Einstein quote: "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 plants, no more animals, no more man."

Mysterious events in recent months have suddenly made Einstein's apocalyptic vision seem all the more topical. For unknown reasons, bee populations throughout Germany are disappearing -- something that is so far only harming beekeepers. But the situation is different in the United States, where bees are dying in such dramatic numbers that the economic consequences could soon be dire. No one knows what is causing the bees to perish, but some experts believe that the large-scale use of genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,473166,00.html

that our entire civilization depends on six inches of topsoil and the fact that it rains.

people need to read this

should be a part of Einstein's quote or the part about GM crops possible effect on the bees? I've been at this a long time and the folks who stand up for GMO's all in the name of "Science", which is not so clever bullshit diversionary tactics, are pretty arrogant and seem to be unable or unwilling to face the extraordinary destruction that has been unleashed upon the world.

Another problem is that humans overall and particularly Americans are so divorced from the land that they consider only the immediate and abstract issues of the day and cannot consider much in the way of the ramifications of a few years down the line.

Let me know what you think.

I never thought of myself as a 'beekeeper', but I heralded the call. 2-3 neighbors are doing the same.

The hives are ready. We're waiting for the bees.
We are in the Ouachita Mtns of Western Arkansas...no industry or agri-business for many miles, so we're optomistic about the health and growth of our colonies.
:hi:

Granted, I'm not outdoors as much as I used to be, but there does seem to have been a reduction in bees' numbers.

I wonder if the same destruction is playing out in wild hives...

"the fact that genetically modified, insect-resistant plants are now used in 40 percent of cornfields in the United States could be playing a role" . . .

fucking with the genetic makeup of food crops that took thousands of years to develop naturally in the belief that "it's perfectly safe" displays an arrogance that may indeed bring about the end of many species, including our own . . .

it's the same "technological hubris" that assures us that nuclear power is safe -- because we can always turn the nuclear waste into weapons, don'tcha know . . .