Bees die - our food supply dies!

It seems that up to 80% of America's honeybees are dying off. I also saw this on CBS News a few nights back. This means (a) the price of honey will go through the roof until there simply is no more at any price, and (b) without bees to pollinate, we will see the vast majority of our entire food supply dry up and die.

Here's another piece from Hugh Simpson's US Prepared blog I'd like to share with you.

Hi, just got this from one of our people that confirms what has been growing into a crisis since I first learned of it from our friend Sister Faachal and then confirmed in the New York Times.

Yes, our honey bees are literally disappearing from USA soil. You might wonder how that has to do with being prepared. Well lets let one of our people, Jim, explain this to you after The Bee Man shares what he shared with Jim.

Here's what The Bee Man had to say:

We opened up our hives this week. This Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has hit us. I've NEVER (our emphasis) seen anything like this. We have been told that in the late 1950s and early 1960s there was "Absconding" going on. Just a rough look thus far leads me to believe that we have 80% losses [of our hive population.]. We are still looking at hives, trying to figure next step. As of today, we are no longer "migratory" beekeepers. We're gonna need bees here [in North-Central Idaho] just to pollinate the local berry, apple and plum crops. The big orchards in Washington State seem to be in trouble too. Take Care, - The Bee Man, in North-Central Idaho.

Here's what Jim had to say:

You are in our prayers, Bee Man! Those of you that have read my novel "Patriots" may remember a character in the Barter Faire chapter called The Bee Man. He was based on a real life individual, who is indeed a "real character."

The full implications of CCD have yet to sink in with both America's grocers, and America's grocery shoppers. The humble honeybee pollinates most of our fruit, berry, and nut crops. Come next Fall, there will doubtless be pitiful crop yields and consequently much higher prices at your supermarket. So stock up on nuts that store
well, such as almonds. Ditto for canned fruit, fruit preserves, jams, and jellies. Also buy some two gallon buckets of honey. It stores literally for decades. I predict that the price of honey will soon more than double, as the available inventory dwindles. You might as well buy your family a 12 to 15 year supply now, while honey is still relatively cheap and plentiful. Honey was probably already on your "stocking up list." In light of the news on CCD, this purchase should be bumped up to the top of the priority list.

Jim is absolutely on target! There will soon be a run on honey that will clean out the shelves and the prices will skyrocket! Good to know that honey can be stored for so long. Also most canned goods can be stored for up to 5 years as I (Hugh) reported in my book. I did not know that bees pollinated nuts too. So I can just imagine how much nuts will be come the 2007 Holiday Season! Possibly up to $10 per can for good quality almonds?

Yes, this is not just alarmist propaganda but as I (Hugh) mentioned there was a very good article on this problem in the New York Times. The experts are really baffled at what is going on. The good Sister reported that her research had shown that there is a mite that can wreak havoc on honey bees. I think that she is correct. However it seems that killing this mite ain't easy.

Just another example of disasters that are beginning to pop up related to our food chain. I (Hugh) personally don't think it has anything to do with Global Warming. Again there was more research as reported this week by Sister Faachal that shows that this heating up is not limited to our planet! Seems that one scientist has been looking at other planets in our solar system particularly Mars which is also facing melting polar caps! I (Hugh) plan to research this further as I think this confirms my greater concern that this so called Global Warming is related to the imbalance of our Sun that we reported about in a previous issue.