Late Night Ramblings
I’ve had a recurring thought lately that the discussion of climate change (or global warming, if you prefer) is not being addressed properly. People either accept that we’re affecting the climate or they don’t, and no amount of arguing is going to change the minds of the naysayers. The argument, then, should not be about climate change, it should be about the cause – pollution. Few people would say that pollution is a good thing. Make the argument about pollution and suddenly you have nearly everyone on your side.
It occurred to me that this pollution angle doesn’t just apply to climate change. Groovy Green reports that organic bee colonies are not being affected by Colony Collapse Disorder. Chemicals = pollution as far as I’m concerned. Examples of organic practices being better than ‘normal’ practices abound. As with climate change, the problem is pollution.
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I was in a local (and very, very large) grocery store the other day to pick up a couple nonfood items. I noticed as I walked through the refrigerated section that three of the refrigerator doors were labeled ‘Natural’. It made me stop and think about the rest of the store.
Brilliant. I felt guilty yesterday when I was at the store and bought cauliflower that was from California, there was nothing local.
I have to reply to your thoughts on CCD. As novice bee-keepers we have been paying a lot of attention.
First, most beeks are very small. Second, the only chemicals normally used are for treating for mites.
You are missing the following info. So far CCD is mainly affecting large beeks with migratory hives for pollinating crops. Probably 1pct of beeks but over 90pct of the bees. I am unsure what additional chemicals they would be using.
If you are defining organic by the bees diet it is impossible to know what the bees are eating. They have a very large flying radius.
I know what you mean, Charles. I wish the bananas and citrus we eat were available from closer sources. Some day I want to have a few dwarf citrus trees. Being small, I can bring them indoors or into a greenhouse during cold spells that might otherwise kill them.
Sorry about that, Misty. I had linked to the wrong article on Groovy Green. I’ve corrected the link if you want to check it out.
Here’s the relevant part of the article:
‘The problem with the big commercial guys is that they put pesticides in their hives to fumigate for varroa mites, and they feed antibiotics to the bees. They also haul the hives by truck all over the place to make more money with pollination services, which stresses the colonies.’
Hi Jeff,
I still have one quibble with that quote. There is a HUGE need for bees to pollinate most of the fruit and nut crops in the US. There is a major shortage of wild honeybees, due to mites and other issues. The only solutions to this are:
1. Mobile colonies of bees, the current system. Believe me, nobody gets rich doing this. Also it has been done for years, long before CCD (which we still do not know what causes it — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise).
2. Each farmer of blueberries, almonds, etc, would have to maintain his own hives in order to have adequate pollination of the crops. This is not practical for a lot of reasons. They are busy enough doing the farming, much less taking on the additional challenge and cost of becoming bee-keepers.
It is not in the bee-keeper’s interest to stress hives. Also, the varroa mites KILL the bees. They are one of the reasons for the bee shortage. Some small-time farmers are having success treating with vinegar, vegetable oil, and other solutions. But it’s very time-consuming and costly, and results are not conclusive.
It’s like if your dog had a bad case of intestinal worms, but you refused to use worming medicine because it was not ‘natural.’ Your dog would most likely die.
And I still don’t understand what “organic” honey means. How do you guarantee that the bees don’t go to a neighboring farm where organic processes are not used on the flowering plants?
I do feel that in the long-term, “local” is going to trump “organic” in the battle of the “better” foods. Locally grown and raised foods cut down on greenhouse gases from transportation, fund local farmers, and result in fresher foods. The benefits of “organic” foods are questionable at best. But that’s a topic for another day.
Misty (who raises not only bees, but also sheep, goats, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, geese, and veggies)
2.
One more thing. The “pesticide” usually used to kill varroa mites is formic acid. Formic acid is classified as organic.
Misty, I take issue with this
“Each farmer of blueberries, almonds, etc, would have to maintain his own hives in order to have adequate pollination of the crops. This is not practical for a lot of reasons”
All a farmer would have to do is bring a local beekeeper into the fold, the beekeeper tends the bees, the farmer tends the fields and they share the results, both the fruits/nuts and the honey.
Charles