Bee Populations and the Looming Catastrophe

Like many of the Patristic Fathers, St. Gregory of Nyssa believed that we can come to a knowledge of God simply by observing the world around us. He singled out bees as one of his examples: as social insects, each bee works for the common good of the colony; and each colony builds a hive that is a wonder of engineering and architectural design that in turn points to the hand of God. Pope Francis writes in Laudato Si that each species gives glory to God by its very existence and conveys a powerful message to us; we have no right to silence their voices.

Yet today, bee populations are dying, and it is becoming more and more apparent that we may be moving toward a world without bees. Over the past several decades, both the number of bee colonies and the diversity of wild bees has been declining precipitously. The overwhelming evidence suggests, moreover, that this decline of bee populations is the result of human activity. We are silencing one of the voices that God has brought forth to testify of his nature and his goodness.

The disappearance of bees, moreover, would be an economic catastrophe. Bees are outstanding pollinators, and large segments of agriculture are dependent on pollinators to produce crops. A large range of vegetables, fruits, and nuts depend on them; for example, a world without bees would be a world without almonds, apples, blueberries, chocolate, coffee, cotton, melons, peaches, pumpkins, strawberries, and tomatoes, just to name a few crops. Globally, it is estimated that the value of the agricultural products produced through the effort of all pollinators (which besides bees includes birds, bats, butterflies, beetles, and moths) is approximately $500 billion.

The causes of the decline in bee populations are diverse and in many cases are still poorly understood. The following, however, seem clearly related to the decline of bee populations:

• Pesticides. A single bee exposed to a pesticide, if it does not die before returning to its hive, can poison the entire hive.
• Urban and monoculture landscapes. These reduce plant diversity, in turn reducing the nutrition that bees need to thrive, and reduce or eliminate undisturbed areas in which wild bees ordinarily nest.
• Climate change, including more extreme weather patterns, wildfires, and warmer temperatures.
• International shipments of bees, which expose bees in the importing country to new diseases and parasites to which they have no resistance.
• Invasive species. For example, Asian giant hornets, which have recently been in the news, attack and destroy bee colonies.
• Fungicides, although they do not directly kill bees, weaken bees’ detoxification systems, leaving them more susceptible to diseases and parasites.
• Herbicides, an area of major dispute. Scientists who believe that particular herbicides are responsible for the decline of bee populations believe that, although they do not kill bees directly, herbicides impede the growth of larvae, reduce bees’ navigational skills, and disrupt their digestive systems.

There are some things that each of us can do in support of bee populations:

• Provide nectar for bees by planting wildflowers or a diversity of other plants such as crocus, sweet alyssum, sunflowers, coneflower, butterfly weed, geranium, bee balm, poppies, black-eyed susan, clover, or apple trees, or other plants with blooms. (Do not spray the plants with pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides!)
• Create a water source for bees. This just requires a small container filled with fresh water along with some pebbles, twigs, or wine corks that serve as perches for the bees.
• Wherever possible, buy organic produce. Buying decisions matter: increased demand for organic produce, and decreased demand for non-organic (pesticide-sprayed) produce, will result in fewer pesticides being used. It will also improve your health.
• Avoid using pesticides and herbicides in your lawn and garden.
• Start your own hive. Marti has had beehives for several years. If you’d like information about starting your own hives based on Marti’s experience, call the parish office to get in touch with her.
• Don’t kill bees or destroy wild beehives. Given their declining populations, we need to keep as many bees alive as we can.
• Donate to an organization that focuses on defending bees and lobbying for measures that will protect rather than destroy bee populations.