In These New Times

Independent

12th november, 2008

If Barack Obama wants to make a vital contribution to the survival of our species on this planet, he should find out what is happening to the bees. Forget about settling the conflicts in the Middle East, or sorting out the world’s financial problems, or cutting CO2 emissions. If the bees disappear, then so will we.

Amid all the hype and hullabaloo following the US presidential election, the item of information with probably the most significance for all of us was tucked away in a corner of Terence Blacker’s article (Opinion, 7 November). In a short paragraph, Mr Blacker noted that not only do bees pollinate one third of the world’s food crops but they are in grave danger of being wiped out – and very little is being done about it.

In fact this grossly understates the importance of bees for our survival. Take away all the insect-pollinated food crops and you are left with cereals and very little else. Not only are most of our fruit and vegetable crops dependant upon bees for pollination, but also all our peas, green beans and pulses. These crops are significant not only as food sources but also because, being legumes, they are able to extract nitrogen from the air. They are therefore not dependent upon artificial fertilisers or animal manures to provide nitrogen, an essential element for all plant growth.

Nitrogen fertilisers, heavily dependent upon oil for their manufacture, have more or less doubled in price in the UK over the last 12 months or so. So that, even if non-insect-pollinated protein crops could be found to substitute for all our legume crops, and even if enough nitrogenous fertiliser could be manufactured to supply them all – both of which seem highly unlikely – the effect on the cost of food production would be enormous.

And it doesn’t end there. Legume crops are important sources of animal feeds, while legumes such as clovers are essential for maintaining the productivity of grasslands. So even the supply of dairy and meat products are heavily dependent upon the humble bee.

In his Gaia hypothesis, James Lovelock famously drew attention to the inter-connectedness of everything within our biosphere, of which we ourselves are of course an integral part. The vital role played by bees in holding together the web of life upon which we all depend illustrates this point well.

If we lose the bees, we lose – full stop.

Dr Francis Kirkham

Ecological Research & Consultancy

Crediton, Devon