HONEY BEE UPDATE

February 22, 2008

When we last wrote about the honey bees back in May of 2007
(Einstein and the Bee) we received hundreds of emails from concerned readers who didn't realize the impact that the honey bees have on our food supply. The reality is that the honey bee is involved in the production of about one-third of the foods that each American consumes on a daily basis. That translates to more than $15 billion dollars per year and has the effect on more than 100 crops.

The crisis is pretty straight forward: over the last several winters, more than 25 percent of the honey bee population in the United States has vanished, and the early reports from beekeepers show this continuing in 2008. This situation seems to have researchers and scientists stumped! Everything from poor nutrition to invasive mites to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) – a phenomenon where bees from a colony abruptly desert the hive and die – is affecting the bees.

Back in May of 2007, we interviewed Kim Flottum, Editor of Bee Culture Magazine, who lost half of his own hives last year on our radio show. According to Flottum, the losses of honey bees due to CDD are over double the normal rate and while he isn't panicking just yet, he predicts that if problems like CCD are not abated in the future, and the honeybee population drops to devastating numbers, the potential economic impact could be huge.

So what's happened since? A few articles have been written, but even fewer food companies have paid public attention to the situation. With one exception: Häagen-Dazs.

And for good reason. About 40 percent of their ice creams include ingredients dependent on honey bees for pollination – including fruits, nuts and berries.

These days we hear a lot about companies being more environmentally responsible and focus on the global impact of food production. From where I sit, I couldn't think of a better place to start than getting to the bottom of the honey bee dilemma. Häagen-Dazs has embarked upon a program to fund sustainable pollination and CCD research at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Davis. They've even put together a neat website www.helpthehoneybees.com to explain the situation in layman's terms.
According to the company, there are ways we can all help, including creating a bee-friendly garden with plants that attract honey bees. All the details are on their website.

And wouldn't you know it, it always seems to be that out of every stressful situation comes some good ... this time its their new Vanilla Honey Bee flavor, with a portion of the proceeds of the sale of this and all bee-dependent flavors going toward helping the honey bees research.

It's time that all food manufacturers follow the Häagen-Dazs example and look at their supply chain – from start to finish; and do what they can to protect and replenish our natural resources.

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