Did you know that 13% of the income from UK farm crops depends on pollination? Bees play a vital role in this process and
they also help the wider ecosystems to flourish. Bee pollen benefits are not
just limited to providing us with a complete superfood but are vital to keep
the whole pollination and food production chain going. That is why everybody is
worried. These figures were released by the Parliamentary Office of Science and
Technology in the UK.
The fact that many bee colonies have been decimated
over the last fifteen years and have not yet managed to recover is a constant
worry and even the UN has sat up and taken notice. The phenomenon is known as
the CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) and nobody is quite sure what exactly the
causes are. Pesticides, GMO farming,
industrial pollution, diseases and other climatic factors are all implicated in
one way or another. If this goes on,
food as we know it will be just a folk memory!
The idea in the UK is now to encourage farmers to grow more arable crops
such as OSR, oilseed rape. Its potential for providing a wider variety of human
food should be investigated. The fact that it flowers in June when the bees
have fewer sources of nectar and pollen could be one way of building up the bee
colonies again. There is also a suggestion that the planting period could be
staggered which would lengthen the flowering window.
When you think that about 33% of the human diet is
organically sourced from plants that must have pollination we realize how
serious the problem is. We only need to think what we would do without apples,
almonds, sunflowers, watermelons, zucchini, cherries, blueberries and avocados, just to name a few!
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| OILSEED RAPE PLANT IN FLOWER |
If we think of what are the most important elements in
the ecosystem, bees are pretty near the top of the list. Scientists are in no
doubt at all that the survival of the bee population is absolutely crucial for
the survival of the human race. Albert Einstein said that human life would
disappear in four years! There is some doubt that he ever said that as he was
no entomologist or ecologist, but any sensible person will realize the urgency
of the situation.
So, bee pollen benefits are not just about a super
food which you could live on indefinitely. It is much, much more and while we
all deserve to have some bee pollen benefits, we must make sure that we are doing
nothing to destroy the honey bee. Some people take a more proactive stance and
actually take up backyard beekeeping and there are many public institutions now
encouraging people to do the same.