Bees Please:
Cooperation
Needed
to Protect
a Vital Food
Supply Link
By Robert Giblin
14 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
Few people think about bees beyond
positive images of honey and beautiful
flowers or unpleasant memories of stings
and pesky disruptions at picnics. Yet,
each day we reap the benefit of these little
workers, as bees provide one mouthful of
food out of every three bites we take.
For several years, there has been
growing concern that honey bees are
under increased stress. Losses of both
managed and wild pollinators could
have profound impacts on the cost and
availability of food – especially fruits,
vegetables, meats and dairy products.
About 90 U.S. agricultural crops
require honey bee pollination. Species
such as apples, avocados, cranberries,
blueberries, cherries, squash, cucumbers,
melons and sunflowers require honey
bees to provide more than 90 percent
of their pollination needs. California’s
$4 billion almond industry completely
depends on honey bees, requiring 60
percent of managed colonies used in