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By STEPHANIE S. GARLOW, Associated Press WriterThu Jun 26, 7:42 PM ET
Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is
solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday.
"No bees, no crops," North Carolina grower Robert D. Edwards told a House
Agriculture subcommittee. Edwards said he had to cut his cucumber acreage in
half because of the lack of bees available to rent.
About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other
pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is responsible for $15
billion annually in crop value.
In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their
hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists
do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers have lost 36 percent of their
managed colonies this year. It was 31 percent for 2007, said Edward B.
Knipling, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research
Service.
"If there are no bees, there is no way for our nation's farmers to continue to
grow the high quality, nutritious foods our country relies on," said Democratic
Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, chairman of the horticulture and organic
agriculture panel. "This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore."
Food prices have gone up 83 percent in three years, according to the World
Bank.
Edward R. Flanagan, who raises blueberries in Milbridge, Maine, said he could
be forced to increase prices tenfold or go out of business without the
beekeeping industry. "Every one of those berries owes its existence to the
crazy, neurotic dancing of a honey bee from flower to flower," he said.
The cause behind the disorder remains unknown. Possible explanations include
pesticides; a new parasite or pathogen; and the combination of
immune-suppressing stresses such as poor nutrition, limited or contaminated
water supplies and the need to move bees long distances for pollination.
Ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs and natural personal care products company Burt's
Bees have pledged money for research and begun efforts to help save the bees.
The problem affects about 40 percent of Haagen-Dazs' 73 flavors, including
banana split and chocolate peanut butter, because ingredients such as almonds,
cherries and strawberries rely on honey bees for pollination.
Katty Pien, brand director for Haagen-Dazs, said those ingredients could become
too scarce or expensive if bees keep dying. It could force the company to
discontinue some of its most popular flavors, Pien said.
Haagen-Dazs has developed a new limited-time flavor, vanilla honey bee, and
will use some of the proceeds for research on the disorder. Burt's Bees has
introduced Colony Collapse Disorder Lip Balm to "soften your lips while saving
honeybees."
The House Appropriations Committee approved $780,000 on Thursday for research
on the disorder and $10 million for bee research. The money awaits approval by
the full House and Senate.