Bees are the world’s important pollinators of food crop.
One-third of the food we eat relies on pollination mainly by these amazing creatures.
Many fruits and vegetables require pollination, such as soybeans, sunflowers, broccoli, avocados, asparagus, squash, and celery.
For crops such as almonds and blueberries, honey bee plays a major role in the pollination of commercial produces. In fact, 75 percent of the crops in the United States are dependent on honey bees.
There are also implications for the dairy and meat industry as these hardworking creatures pollinate clover and alfalfa, which are fed to cattle.
But bees are rapidly dying and in Brazil alone, more than 500 million bees died within a 3-month period, leaving the future of our food in question.
According to reports, over 500 million bees were found dead in four Brazilian states – 45 million in Mato Grosso do Sul, 50 million in Santa Catarina, 7 million in Sao Paulo and 400 million in Rio Grande do Sul.
The data has been recorded from December 2018 to February 2019.
Aldo Machado, the vice president of Rio Grande Sul beekeeping association, said to Bloomberg that tens of thousands of honey bees died within 48 hours after falling sick.
“As soon as the healthy bees began clearing the dying bees out of the hives, they became contaminated. They started dying en masse,” he said.
Researchers blame the high increase of pesticide use as they have found traces of chemicals, such as fipronil, in some dead bees.
The US Environmental Protection Agency classifies fipronil, which is commonly used for getting rid of ticks and fleas, a possible human carcinogen.
Alberto Bastos, the president of the Apiculturist Association of Brazil’s Federal District, said to Bloomberg: “The death of all these bees is a sign that we’re being poisoned.”
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Replaced!