Inside PBS Blog

Dear Dr. Cox-Foster,
Will this Bee population decline translate into global food shortages for the human population?

outside my house there grows a great deal of wild mint. recently i learned that there is a dangerous amount of lead in the soil in my neighborhood. i delight in watching the many different kinds of bees gorge themselves on the tiny mint flowers and though there is some question as to whether the lead makes it's way into the nectar, i worry that it may in some way be unhealthy. if it's unsafe for me to consume, could it be safe for my tiny fragile friends?

Is there any evidence that genetically modified plants are to blame for the bee decline?
Russian scientist Irina Ermakova did a study in 2005 that showed that the offspring of rats that were fed GM soy showed significantly higher death rates (55.6%) than the offspring of rats that were not fed GM soy. Perhaps a similar phenomenon is occurring with bees coming in contact with pollen from GM plants.
Also a study done by Pusztai and Ewan found that rats who were fed GM potatoes developed abnormalities in their gastrointestinal tract, which may have, in turn affected the rats' immune system function. Could a similar phenomenon be happening to the bees immune systems leaving them prone to many of the illness they normally would have immunity to?
I realize there is a great difference between rats and bees, but perhaps there are some similarities as well.

Since bees are so important, and it appears that they are in a lot of trouble why is there no push by scientist to put them on the endangered species list ?

Well it doesnt necessarily say they are endangered, only that millions of them have disappeared, maybe a bee epidemic, or some new predator!?!? I am not sure, What have been your findings so far?

As family farms have gone under, has too the number of beekeepers shrunk?

With so many cases of disturbance in our ecological balance concerning the small warning creatures, CCD in honey bees, OE in monarch butterflies, White nose fungus in small brown bats,there has to be an environmental trigger of sorts. What are the chances that these incidents are related and how can we track the problem?

Ever since I first heard about this situation, I've had a suspicion that the practice of moving whole hives of Bees around in trucks within this continent while also moving smaller populations inter continentally might be a contributing factor.
It also occurred to me that several different conditions occurring simultaneously might have a combined impact of far greater severity than any of these individual conditions might exhibit if measured or observed separately or under controlled conditions where only one of the possible factors is being measured.
There have been studies showing that the run off from industrial farms acts in just this way, the synergistic effect of a combination of pollutants being far in excess of what was projected from laboratory observations of their individual effect on this or that creature.
Is anyone pursuing inquiries along these lines?

every year I used to watch the bees work and was amazed. Now - I haven't seen a honeybee in the last two years or so. I have to believe that it is relaed to something we've done- pesticides, GMO--in addition to the mites and viruses.

Lately, I notice that bumble bees also seem to be dwindling and that when I do see them- they are in a perched position on the sidewalk or grass and on their last leg- I wonder if there is a link and would help solve some of the mystery.

Earlier this year after I put out hummingbird nectar, Honeybees took over for two to three days.
About a month or so ago, my grandsons and I took soda cans to the local metal place and there we saw hundreds of honeybees. This is central Texas, any thoughts.

I have read about ways that people can help the bees. One I've read about is planting things that will attract bees. What sort of bee friendly plants would you recommend. What else could people do to help in this crisis?

My husband and I recently got certified as beekeepers in our state. This is a WONDERFUL way to keep the bees happy and healthy. Our teacher, a master beekeeper and surgeon, was the perfect one for me because he uses no chemicals and is developing a certified organic program. We did not get any bees this year but intend to take the course again, refresh ourselves and get our bees next January! :)

It would seem that the bees' disappearance along with some of the other small creatures are canaries in a coal mine. They are a symptom of a larger problem in our environment. We should be looking at our behaviors and habits on a daily basis. What type of foods are we demanding and when, where and how are these foods produced. I remember growing up that you couldn't get everything year round and that fruits/vegetables didn't appear "perfect".
Sitting by the swimming pool the other day, it was the first in a long while that I saw so many bees flying around and buzzing from plant to plant. It could be that the pesticides they were using there were more bee-friendly.
Do you think we need to change our demands on fresh produce and how we care/tend our open green spaces to promote a more friendly environments for the small guys like the bees and frogs that have been disappearing? Could climate change also have an effect? We have been experiencing droughts more often recently.

I watched a show recently on PBS about the decline of bees. Not sure it is the same one referred to here. But there was no mention of GMO's, only a vague referrence to pesticides. Since pesticides reside in most GMO's, it does make sense that GMO's are an obvious cause of this sudden decline. The timing seems to coordinate too. But why didn't this show or for that matter, any t.v. venue talk about this, even if it is to debunk it? In reading the internet, there is so much paranoia about everything! In looking for information about bees, and GMO's, suddenly, I'm keeping company with conspiracy theories about a world collapse! It is easy to see why people are feeling justified about bringing guns to meetings, etc., but not that I condone it! It leaves you with the general feeling that people sense that something big is being withheld from them, and they have no control over their lives. The bees dying definitely is frightening. It would be nice to know if we could just quit using GMO's and be able to restore the bees' health. Afterall, we NEED the bees to survive. Nothing paranoid about that, just sensible! Thank you, Carolyn Egeli

my enlgish ist not very fine but thats a readable story!

From the place I come from it is very natural to have a bee hive in one's own backyard.But recently in my town the roads are being widened and over bridge is being built to accommodate the ever increasing traffic.And the result? Well it is sad to see 100 year old huge trees as well as many flowering trees being felled.So less trees means less flowers.And wide roads mean less space for flowering trees.How will the bees survive?only in protected atmosphere perhaps.But not naturally any more in your own backyard.