Issue 425 of New Internationalist
Reader-owned global journalism
September 2009
September 2009
Do you know what apples, almonds, broccoli, cashews, garlic, mangoes, peaches, raspberries and tea have in common? Give up? They all depend on bees to help with their sexual reproduction.
In fact, did you know that every third bite of food that you consume depends on our buzzing buddies, the bees? The busy little gals (the workers are unfertilized females) do a lot for us by pollinating plants and flowers worldwide.
Unfortunately, they're dying by the millions and no-one knows why. It’s safe to say our world won’t be the same without them.
‘No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more... people’ is a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein, though there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that he actually said it. Not that it matters. The attribution is less important than the content.
This issue examines the mystery of the disappearing bees.
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