From the May 2007 Idaho Observer:
The "mysterious bee killer" Compiled by The IO
The "mysterious bee killer"
Compiled by The IO
The Bee Research Lab at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is referring to whatever is decimating honey bee populations worldwide as an "unknown pathogen," stating that studies are pointing "to some kind of a disease or parasite," The Associated Press reported recently.
The AP reported that, before beekeepers in 27 U.S. states, Brazil, Canada and Europe were reporting incidence of what is being called colony collapse disorder (CCD), bee populations had been steadily shrinking, "...mainly because their genes do not equip them to fight poisons and disease very well and because their gregarious nature tends to expose them to different ailments."
The statement is a clue to what is really going on in a naturopathic sense. Bees (or humans, birds and lab rats) exposed to poisons experience diminished immune function and become vulnerable to opportunistic infections resulting in symptoms germ theory advocates refer to as "diseases."
The premise is flawed, however, because disease symptoms appear as the body attempts to remove toxic material from the body. Humans, for instance, will perspire, urinate, vomit, create mucous, pus and/or loose bowel movements to expel toxins. In naturopathy, these are called "avenues of elimination" and the process is promoted.
If bees are not physiologically equipped to remove toxins such as chemical poisons, then the only way to bring them back to health is to remove the toxins from their environment.
The problem suddenly becomes political and not medical. Forensic science has evolved to the point where the cause of death can always be determined unless the determinate cause has political implications.
A beekeeper named "Tom" from Tennessee called into The American Acticvist on Republic Broadcasting Network and explained how flies and mice traditionally come in to clean up a hive once it has been abandoned. However, when a colony collapses "mysteriously" under the presently alarming circumstances, the "cleanup crew" of flies and mice haven’t been showing up.
Why? Is it because the excretions of the bees (honey, wax) contain concentrations of toxic materials?
If it were to be determined that the only way to bring the bees back is to remove toxic chemicals (herbicides, pesticides, military chaff, factory emissions, the products of hydrocarbon combustion, Bt Gm pollen) from our environment, would the USDA issue a statement to that effect and adapt policy to enforce the regulatory revisions necessary to remove those toxins from the environment?
If it were determined that the bees were being fatally affected by electromagnetic radiation or pollen from their interaction with genetically-modified (GM) plants, would the USDA seek to ban cell towers/phones and other wireless transmissions using microwaves? Would the USDA recommend criminalizing the propagation of GM plants?
We already have the answer
According to the AP, "A congressional study said honeybees add about $15 billion a year in value to our food supply."
Aside, of course, from the obvious absurdity of Congress attaching a bee-value figure to the food supply, the chemical lobby, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported in 2003 the combined U.S. import and export of "chemicals" was about $182 billion. Similarly, the bee lobby cannot compete with the telecommunications industry or agribusiness for congressional consideration.
We are about to discover that power politics trumps life on earth.
The same AP article observed the following:
• Honeybees pollinate more than 90 percent of the flowers that become apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash, cucumbers, citrus fruits, cherries, berries and melons.
• Cows even depend on bees because they eat alfalfa.
"In fact, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the USDA," the AP reported (and, according to Congress, that is only worth $15 billion a year?)
"So, if the collapse worsens, we could end up being ‘stuck with grains and water,’ said Kevin Hackett, the national leader for USDA’s bee and pollination program," the AP reported.
Hackett added, "This is the biggest general threat to our food supply."
To Congress, the value of bees to the food supply is only worth $15 billion a year while chemicals, telecommunications and agribusiness net hundreds of $billions annually.
If left to the infinite wisdom of politicians in Congress, man may soon be living on bread and water alone. "Congress" would then literally be the opposite of progress.
On May 12 The London Observer broke a story that links the CCD and the frightening decline in bee populations to genetically modified rapeseed. From the article:
"A leading zoologist has found evidence that genes used to modify crops can jump the species barrier and cause bacteria to mutate, prompting fears that GM technology could pose serious health risks.
"A four-year study by Professor Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a respected German zoologist, found that the alien gene used to modify oilseed rape had transferred to bacteria living inside the guts of honey bees.
"The research—which has yet to be published and has not been reviewed by fellow scientists—is highly significant because it suggests that all types of bacteria could become contaminated by genes used in genetically modified technology, including those that live inside the human digestive system. If this happened, it could have an impact on the bacteria’s vital role in helping the human body fight disease, aid digestion and facilitate blood clotting.
"Agriculture Minister Nick Brown, who was yesterday advising farmers who have accidentally grown contaminated GM rapeseed (canola) in Britain to rip up their crops, confirmed the potential significance of Kaatz’s research. He said: ‘If this is true, then it would be very serious.’
"The 47-year-old Kaatz has been reluctant to talk about his research until it has been published in a scientific journal, because he fears a backlash from the scientific community similar to that faced by Dr Arpad Pustzai, who claimed that genetically modified potatoes damaged the stomach lining of rats. Pustzai was sacked and had his work discredited."
Deadly virus killing Great Lakes fish
"A deadly, ebola-like virus is killing fish of all types in the Great Lakes, a development some scientists fear could trigger disaster for the USA’s freshwater fish," wrote Dennis Cauchon for the USA Today (May Day, 2007).
U.S. Geological Survey fish health chief explains that because the fish have no "genetic resistance to viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS)," the Great Lakes’ $4.5 billion commercial and sport fishing industries are imperiled.
Again, we have "experts" blaming a virus and genetics (God) for causing huge fish kills. Not once did the article mention that levels of (man made) toxic chemicals in the tissues of animals have a direct correlation to resistance to disease and the severity of symptom expression.