Death of the Colorado Small Business, Due to the Death of the Honeybee
Charles Darwin, once said, “The life of man would be extremely difficult if the bee disappeared”. Humans have depended on agriculture, as a source of food, since the Neolithic Era. Back then humans didn’t know much about how, or why things grow, or taste the way they do. Pollinators such as the honeybee, played a huge part in helping those early crops along, and have carried the burden pollination and production since before humans existed. Pollinations is important to every living thing, it’s how the world grows and evolves, without pollinations plants are unable to reproduce, eventually causing whole crop die-offs. But what will happen if and when the honeybee becomes …show more content…
This year alone, Colorado is experiencing a record breaking 38% die off of it’s honey bee population. Some causes being, environmental changes, parasites, genetic changes to honey bee colonies and other causes being human made. The use of the pesticides known as neonicotinoids, are very widely used by crop farmers across Colorado, because of the way the pesticide works. Neonicotinoids stay in the plant as it develops, eventually making its way into the nectar of the plant, making it a very cost effective pesticide for crop farmers, but detrimental to honey bees. The pesticide attacks the nervous system, sometimes disorienting the victim, or being carried back to the hive and spread among the hive. Prolonged exposure weakens the health of the hive and eventually causes a mass die-off of the hive. Reducing the use of Neonicotinoid pesticides is one way we may be able to help, not only commercial beekeeper’s populations, but also wild honey bee …show more content…
Why are commercial beekeepers important? Many organic farms, and some large commercial produce growers use commercial bees to pollinate their crop, which help keep their production costs low, ensuring a lower consumer price. Entomologist, David Epstien of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, states “If they [beekeepers] go out of business, then we lose the honeybees that pollinate all our crops. You like to eat, a good supply of food, cheap prices. We simply cannot afford to see our ecosystem collapse. We’re getting wake-up calls. We have to wake up and figure out how to improve” (Finley 2015). For small businesses, that depend on crops, and flowers this mean a dramatic decrease in agricultural productions, which mean increased consumer prices. As a consumer that means paying higher prices for local products, in an already high priced environment, when importing the same food would cost less, essentially cutting out small business. A good example of this can be seen already with fruit trees, more specifically Palisade Peaches. Each year in Colorado the costs for these locally grown peaches rises about 0.2%. Which does not seem like much, but when you look at the price per ton it is an increase of $200 per ton annually, with very little to no increase in crop production. That means an increased price to consumers and small businesses when prices are already sky
Charles Darwin, once said, “The life of man would be extremely difficult if the bee disappeared”. Humans have depended on agriculture, as a source of food, since the Neolithic Era. Back then humans didn’t know much about how, or why things grow, or taste the way they do. Pollinators such as the honeybee, played a huge part in helping those early crops along, and have carried the burden pollination and production since before humans existed. Pollinations is important to every living thing, it’s how the world grows and evolves, without pollinations plants are unable to reproduce, eventually causing whole crop die-offs. But what will happen if and when the honeybee becomes …show more content…
This year alone, Colorado is experiencing a record breaking 38% die off of it’s honey bee population. Some causes being, environmental changes, parasites, genetic changes to honey bee colonies and other causes being human made. The use of the pesticides known as neonicotinoids, are very widely used by crop farmers across Colorado, because of the way the pesticide works. Neonicotinoids stay in the plant as it develops, eventually making its way into the nectar of the plant, making it a very cost effective pesticide for crop farmers, but detrimental to honey bees. The pesticide attacks the nervous system, sometimes disorienting the victim, or being carried back to the hive and spread among the hive. Prolonged exposure weakens the health of the hive and eventually causes a mass die-off of the hive. Reducing the use of Neonicotinoid pesticides is one way we may be able to help, not only commercial beekeeper’s populations, but also wild honey bee …show more content…
Why are commercial beekeepers important? Many organic farms, and some large commercial produce growers use commercial bees to pollinate their crop, which help keep their production costs low, ensuring a lower consumer price. Entomologist, David Epstien of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, states “If they [beekeepers] go out of business, then we lose the honeybees that pollinate all our crops. You like to eat, a good supply of food, cheap prices. We simply cannot afford to see our ecosystem collapse. We’re getting wake-up calls. We have to wake up and figure out how to improve” (Finley 2015). For small businesses, that depend on crops, and flowers this mean a dramatic decrease in agricultural productions, which mean increased consumer prices. As a consumer that means paying higher prices for local products, in an already high priced environment, when importing the same food would cost less, essentially cutting out small business. A good example of this can be seen already with fruit trees, more specifically Palisade Peaches. Each year in Colorado the costs for these locally grown peaches rises about 0.2%. Which does not seem like much, but when you look at the price per ton it is an increase of $200 per ton annually, with very little to no increase in crop production. That means an increased price to consumers and small businesses when prices are already sky