Slate says the disappearance of the honeybees isn’t a big deal.
I disagree in my final environmental column for What’s Up? Annapolis.
Granted, American ingenuity will eventually find another method of pollinating its crops. But manual pollination and other pollinators aren’t nearly as cheap as honeybees. We may be on the path to finding another method for crop pollination, but we’re not far enough along that it will be affordable to farmers. Simple supply and demand: if honeybee populations are decimated again this winter, bee pollination won’t come cheap in Spring 2008. With farmers already crunched by pesticide pollution (requires free login), skyrocketing fuel costs (transport and farm vehicles aren’t free to operate), and rising property taxes, the main effect of colony collapse disorder may be the increased struggle and bankruptcy of small farms. And that, Slate, is a really big deal.
