F. William Engdahl: Death of the Birds and Bees Across America

Birds and bees are something most of us take for granted as part of nature. The expression teaching about the birds and the bees to explain the process of human reproduction to young people is not an accidental expression. Birds and bees contribute to the essence of life on our planet. A study by the US Department of Agriculture estimated that perhaps one-third of our total diet is dependent, directly or indirectly, upon insect-pollinated plants. The honey bee, Apis mellifera, is the most important pollinator of agricultural crops. Honey bees pollinate over 70 out of 100 crops, that in turn provide 90% of the world's food. They pollinate most fruits and vegetables, including apples, oranges, strawberries, onions and carrots. But while managed honey bee populations have increased over the last 50 years, bee colony populations have decreased significantly in many European and North American nations. Simultaneously, crops that are dependent on insects for pollination have increased. The phenomenon has received the curious designation of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), implying it could be caused by any number of factors. Serious recent scientific studies however point to a major cause: Use of new highly toxic systemic pesticides in agriculture since about 2004. If governments in the EU, USA and other countries fail to impose a total ban on certain chemical insecticides, not only could bees become a thing of the past. The human species could face staggering new challenges merely to survive. The immediate threat comes from the widespread proliferation of commercial insecticides containing the highly-toxic chemical with the improbable name, neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids are a group of insecticides chemically similar to nicotine. They act on the central nervous system of insects, but also on bees and small song birds. Recent evidence suggests they could also affect human brain development in newborns.