HoneyBees and the American Economy - the French Connection

How doth the busy little bee

Improve each shining hour,

And gather all the day

From every opening flower!

Isaac Watts, Against Idleness

Telecom Providers may be the silent killer of both us and members of the Honeybees (Apis Meliffera) species, as two (2) recent studies have come to my attention related to humans as stated in the video CNET Buzz Report aired Thursday May 20 2010 by Brian Cooley Executive Editor, CNET News and Honeybees as stated in the article “Mobile phones responsible for disappearance of honey bee”, published 29 May 2010 8:00AM BST by Dean Nelson in New Delhi, UK Telegraph.

This was a story which was confirmed by the video from CNET Buzz Report, aired Thursday May 3 2010 by Molly Wood, Executive Editor, CNET News who also states the obvious running through John Public’s mind: what is all this radiation doing to us?

It seems that the Americans are facing a rather peculiar situation as it relates to the status of their Economy. Despite pronouncements by the Government of the United States of America, their Economy is not showing signs of recovery.

It is bad.

Very bad.

The American Economy that was supposed to have begun recovering this Summer of 2010 is now sputtering, much to the horror of the International Community, who can only stand and watch as the American Economy is now teetering on the brink of another Economic meltdown.

This time it has little if nothing to do with Oil, a prices whose fickle volatility is well known. It instead has to do with a little know insect, Apis meliffera, or the HoneyBee and the unknown illness that is affecting them, namely CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder). CCD, which has been affecting beekeepers in the United States of America and Canada for the last four (4) years, has now worsened.

This mysterious problem has serious implications for their Agriculture Sector as stated in the article “Bees in more trouble than ever after bad winter” published Wednesday March 24, 8:05 am ET By GARANCE BURKE and SETH BORENSTEIN, Associated Press Writers, Yahoo News.

Without Honeybees to pollinate the numerous hundreds of fruit trees after such a harsh winter this year, the result will be a massive loss and a significant reduction in agricultural output, making it possible for the first time that the great United States of America will be unable to sufficiently feed it growing population and worse, supply grain, rice and other produce to other countries that depend on their foreign aid, such as Africa.

The other main product of Honeybees, Honey, which the Americans mostly use as a sweetener in everything from Corn Flakes to Soft Drinks, will also be in short supply due to this problem suspected to be related to pesticides.

Even HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) another commercial sweetener will be in short supply, as Honeybees also pollinate the corn used to make this sweetener and hives in the southern part of the country that are largely unaffected by Colony Collapse Disorder do not have enough Honeybees to supply the colder north and their own farmers in their area. Death is staring everyone in the face, both in the United States of America and the rest of the world.

This is because the United States of America is focusing its efforts almost exclusively on getting the Economy going by pumping money into the Economy to stimulate spending. While this will bump up Consumer Confidence ahead of an expected busy Back-to-school period, it does not solve the fundamental problems of the American Economy, that being growth.

Like Jamaica, the United States of America has become a net importer of good from the People’s Republic of China. The Government of People’s Republic of China knows this, which is why they are jostling for investments in Jamaica in a push towards the United States of America.

The People’s Republic of China knows that the Americans have no political resolve to wean themselves of low production cost, high priced goods, which their massive manufacturing force can produce cheaper than even the American’s and their wasteful use of their resources.

Their dependence on Oil, which they need to wean themselves of by switching to LNG, a point myself and many others have made in the past.

But it is the Honeybees that are the real clincher, for albeit Peak Oil, coming in the year 2015 will cause Global Upheaval and a Second Recession, it looks like this may be also accompanies by a Global Food Shortage, exacerbated by the die-off of Honeybees.

There is no explanation and non that John Public can give, save for the possible link to Electromagnetic Radiation from Mobile Cellular Towers, which has been flatly dismissed as “unscientific”.

Honeybees get lost and die of starvation and the hive, starved of food and workers die off as well. In the case of humans, it can be much worse than just being lost. The findings from this UN (United Nations) study spanning a decade from the years 2000 to 2010 involving thirteen thousand participants (13,000) indicated that it could lead to a 40% increase in a rare brain tumour called glioma and a 15% increase in another equally rare type of brain tumour called meningioma in the top 10% of people due to prolonged heavy usage.

Prolonged usage is considered to be more than thirty (30) minutes, albeit the link to the two (2) rare forms of brain cancer is inconclusive as both types of cancer take nearly twenty five (25) years to develop.

This is indubitably on the side of the head where closest to the ear where the Mobile Phones was most often used as stated in the article “Results of cell phone cancer study inconclusive”, published Monday May 17 2010 by Lance Whitney, CNET News - Health Tech.

This is documented in the article on WikiPedia entitled “ Mobile phone radiation and health”, viewed Monday May 17 2010 by Wikipedia.

That Honeybees could have been affected in a controlled three (3) month experiment with Mobile Handsets emitting Electromagnetic Radiation in the 900 MHz frequency seems a bit too quick of a conclusion.

Despite the results from the controlled yet unscientific experiment done by the Punjab University, it does establish that Manmade Electromagnetic Radiation is one of the possible causative factors affecting Honeybees and their ability to navigate and produce honey.

This was previously mentioned above is related to Manmade Electromagnetic Radiation emanating from Mobile Towers and Mobile Handsets as suggested in the article “Mobile phones responsible for disappearance of honey bee”, published 29 May 2010 8:00AM BST by Dean Nelson in New Delhi, UK Telegraph and detailed in my blog entitled “Bees Colony Collapse Disorder and the Jamaican Opportunity”.

Honeybees and their importance to the food Chain in terms of being pollinators cannot be underestimated as I had opined in my blog article entitled “Bees Colony Collapse Disorder and the Jamaican opportunity”, as the opportunity that I laid out in the article may be fast fading due to the possible presence of Colony Collapse Disorder among Jamaica Honeybees.

Synthetic lab produced food may be in our future as stated in the article “Jason Matheny's Meatloaf from a Petri dish”, published May 27, 2010, 5:00PM EST By Elizabeth Lopatto, BusinessWeek - TECHNOLOGY.

John Public surmises that albeit the ten (10) year study WHO on the effect on humans is inconclusive, the controlled experiment by the PunJab University is of greater importance, as it deserves not only further study.

If Colony Collapse Disorder continues and the Honeybees keep dying off, eventually we will be plunged into a Global Food Crisis

There as already signs that Colony Collapse Disorder is also affecting hives here in Jamaica. We too, like the United States of America and the United Kingdom, will have to start looking into the matter with more urgency as nobody loves mobile phones like Jamaicans.