Beekeeping

The New Zealand-based global warming blog, Celsias posted a nice synopsis of possible causes for the current bee crisis - or what the author, Craig Mackintosh, claims is more accurately termed a pollination crisis.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) - a Moment for Reflection?

His list of CCD causes include the following. You can read a brief description of each on his post, linked above.

• Lack of Diversity
  
• Pesticides and Herbicides
  
• Genetically Modified Crops
  
• Direct Stress
  
• Varroa Mites
  
• Artificial Insemination
  
• Weather
  
• Mechanistic Mindsets
  
• Navigational Hindrances

Much of this has been an education for me. Queen production through artificial insemination? Wing clipping? Pesticides sprayed directly into hives? The real eye-opener was the extent to which industrial methods are used to breed and transport bees.

Here's a photo and caption from Wikipedia on Beekeeping:

"US migratory beekeepers loading tractor-trailer load of bees
for transport from South Carolina to Maine to pollinate blueberries."________