“In the winter of 2006, a strange phenomenon fell upon honeybee hives across the country. Without a trace, millions of bees vanished from their hives. A precious pollinator of fruits and vegetables, the disappearing bees left billions of dollars of crops at risk and threatened our food supply. The epidemic set researchers scrambling to discover why honeybees were dying in record numbers — and to stop the epidemic in its tracks before it spread further. ..”
Now, Houston… we have a problem. I know, I know! Now what? Right!! I mean, we’ve got global warming, rising fuel costs, general resource depletion, carbon footprinting, warring nations abound… blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! It’s enough to make you wonder why you ever chose to come here in the first place, doesn’t it?!
Well, let me tell you, I do not watch the news. It’s too depressing. Plus, I think the media does mankind a huge disservice by focusing on sensational, negatively slanted “news” stories such as wars, famine, genocide, suicides, murders, political upheavals, etc.
I’m not saying these things don’t exist. But let me ask you this… do you think they exist any MORE or any LESS than before?
Let me also ask you this… if you think it seems like all of these negative and destructive human calamities seem to be happening more, do you think that MAYBE the fact that images of war, famine, genocide, suicide, murders and political upheavals are shown on local/state/national/international news night after night while MILLIONS of people tune in to watch it has ANYthing to do with it?
If you understand certain Universal laws, then you understand that what you see, hear, feel and THINK about most actually happens. And then you will also agree with me that the world is in the state of the world it is today because that is EXACTLY what we are creating through our media and our minds when we watch that sort of media. Turn off the TV. Or at least stop watching the most of the news! Especially your local news!! It’s the absolutely worst and most abhorant. Get your weather and traffic elswhere, okay. That’s all. I’m going to leave that at that.
But that’s not really what I came here to talk about this time. That’s a cause. What I wanted to bring up in this writing is another one of the effects.
Now, when I DO watch my one or two hours of TV a week (yes I have basic cable with 10 channels, thank you) I turn on one of two things typically. Something that is going to make me laugh (i.e., old episodes of Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, Gilmore Girls, etc) or I turn to something that will educate me. In comes my all time favorite… Public Broadcasting Television!
However, last Sunday night as I was winding down the weekend with some nature shows, this episode on honey bees in the U.S. and around the world came on. At first, I was like, “Cool! I so dig bees and bugs and stuff!”
But then it immediately opened with the facts of a very scary epidemic of “collapsing” bee hive colonies around the world. Hey use the word “collapse” in anything topic of discussion since that fateful date 09/11 and sharps pains like hypodermic needles from skull to sacrum run through one’s back.
“But it’s just bees!” I think to myself. How bad could it really be? And then I was shocked.
Watch the clips for yourself. Make your own decision. And realize then that we as a human race can not continue to act in the irresponsible ways which we have been acting in relation to this planet any longer. In a matter of less than a few hundred years we have managed to destroy, deplete, discard and put almost in complete disrepair more of the natural world around us than all the humans that came hundreds of thousands of years before us!
I’m sorry to say this, but the generation of my father and my father’s father, despite the great leaps and bounds in science, industry, and technology in the last 100-200 years, have acted irresponsibly in terms of proper stewardship of this big blue planet. And now, as we see the consequences of these actions exponentially unfolding upon a generation that has to pick up the broken pieces, fix the leaky faucets, and take care of the dead and dying species of beings who have suffered from our consumer-driven, profit-maximizing debacles.
But everybody is going “green” now, Roldan! We’re fixing the problems. Promise. Well, sadly, the truth of the matter is that only time now will tell. I will give it to Mother Nature and her Earth. They are resilient and have been known to recover. But for how much longer without truly a new way of how we take care of our Planet and therefore Ourselves?
And if you are still, tossing three or four bottles of water in the landfill each day, driving your big ass 12 mpg (20 on the highway) SUV, eating 80% of your meals from fast food restaurants and places to go in styrofoam containers, then maybe it’s time to look in the mirror and ask yourself this question….
“Will I continue to lead the irresponsible life the generation of my father and father’s father has taught me? Or will I begin to think more about my actions and my ways of consumption and how they affect not only my Planet, but my Community, my Generation and the generations that will look to me for proper leadership and improved stewardship?”
If you can’t answer those questions in a way that helps to shift a global consciousness back in the direction of goodness for the whole and away from the ideology of “all that matters is me”, then it’s time to consider how you too can become a bigger part of the solution to the problems we have at hand.
To learn more about the tragic flight of the bumble bee and the battle that these gals are facing and what that means to you even in YOUR lifetime, click here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dIUo3STj6tw
Meanwhile, I leave you with some sobering factoids for your own contemplation…
- In the winter of 2006/2007, more than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies — accounting for tens of billions of bees — were lost to CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder. This loss is projected have an $8 billion to $12 billion effect on America’s agricultural economy, but the consequences of CCD could be far more disastrous.
- The role honeybees play in our diet goes beyond honey production. These seemingly tireless creatures pollinate about one-third of crop species in the U.S. Honeybees pollinate about 100 flowering food crops including apples, nuts, broccoli, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, celery, squash and cucumbers, citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, melons, as well as animal-feed crops, such as the clover that’s fed to dairy cows. Essentially all flowering plants need bees to survive.
- Since ancient times, honey bees (Apis mellifera) have been valued for the honey and beeswax they produce. In many cultures, these products, as well as the bees themselves, are viewed with mystical or religious significance. To ancient Greeks and Romans, honey was the “nectar of the gods” — endowed with healing properties and super-natural powers.
- While the exact mechanisms of CCD are unknown, a strong association between the disease and presence of the Israeli acute paralysis virus has been reported. Other factors may also be involved; malnutrition, pesticides, pathogens, immunodeficiencies, mites, fungus, genetically modified (GM) crops, beekeeping practices (such as the use of antibiotics, or long-distance transportation of beehives) and electromagnetic radiation have all been proposed as causative agents.
Want to learn more about the life of bees in general now and the other people who lives conmpletely depend on them? Well, here you go: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/bees/resources.html
