The quote:
“If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination… no more men!”
The message itself has merit, but the fact that Einstein was the person who spoke those words has never been proven.
If you’ve seen M. Night Shyamalan’s, ‘The Happening’ you may have seen the first part of that quote written on the schoolroom blackboard, and felt a shudder of anticipation.
The truth is bees are declining at an alarming rate according to data collated in North America and Europe. And as bees are the main pollinator of flowering plants all over the world, they really are responsible for the fruit, nuts, vegetables, meat, cheese, yoghurt and milk that you set on your table each day – either directly or through the food chain.
May Berenbaum of the National Academy of Sciences states, “They [bees] are so integrated into so many different markets that I imagine there would be all kinds of collapses. To illustrate how pervasive the honey bee is, consider the Big Mac. All beef patties, the pickles, onions, lettuce, the cheese, the sesame sseds on the bun – that’s a lot.” … all requiring pollination of bees.
Food prices would increase and people who are struggling with their food bills today may face starvation tomorrow. All of the by-products bees produce would disappear from the market (honey and wax) affecting pricing of products we use daily, as more expensive alternatives are the only option.
But hopefully public concern and awareness for the bee’s plight will…
“inspire the research and action needed to preserve an important, if underappreciated, player in the world’s food web.”