The Bees
Honeybees Are Important
Few people are aware of the vast importance of the honeybee to our everyday lives. While most think of honey, it is estimated that thirty-three percent of everything that reaches the American table owes a debt to the honeybee. Over 90 fruits and vegetables including apples, melons, nut crops, cherries, berries, avocados plus alfalfa and clover seed for cattle feed are dependent upon honeybee pollination. The economic importance in North Carolina alone is $80 million and the national economic impact closer to $15 billion.
The Honeybee Crisis
Honeybees are in crisis and need our help. During the past twenty years, populations have declined worldwide with U.S. populations declining by approximately fifty percent. Imported and pesticide-resistant pests, shrinking habitat, and diseases have devastated the honeybee despite the best efforts of beekeepers. Farmers that have traditionally relied on both wild and domestic honeybees to pollinate orchards and fields are now dependent on the managed hives of beekeepers to successfully pollinate their crops. Wild honeybees have all but disappeared.
And now, with the mysterious and devastating worldwide phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, the threat to this species has been compounded. The honeybees need our help. Our response is The Honeybee Project.