The social media debate between South Africans living here at home and those who have emigrated is a daily battle – the naysayers from abroad talk of unlocked front doors and walking home at night (why does no one overseas own a car?), whilst those on our shores point to the natural beauty and unique culture.

Well it looks like our local bees are throwing their lot in with the naysayers as the population are ‘getting sick of humans’. These little critters are so vital to pollination that even the mighty Barack Obama has taken heed of the problem and announced a plan to make large tracts of land more bee-friendly over in the US of A. This from BusinessInsider:

Loss of habitat, the increasing use of pesticides and growing vulnerability to disease are blamed by many critics for the plight of the honey bees.

The environmental group Greenpeace, which has launched a campaign to save the insects, says that 70 out of the top 100 human food crops, which supply about 90 percent of the world’s nutrition, are pollinated by bees.

Sorry, more bad news on the way –  our local population are under attack from a disease called foulbrood, a disease that has previously affected the bees of Europe and the Americas but steered clear of us. Mike Allsopp, honey bee specialist at the Agricultural Research Council in Stellenbosch, explains just how serious this is:

We cannot afford to lose our bee population, not because of the losses of honey, but because we have 20 billion rands worth of commercial agriculture that requires bee pollination.

Perhaps we need to be more appreciative of these winged honey-making machines and set aside some land of our own for them to enjoy, free from pesticide and meddling bee-keepers. If we don’t it may hit us where it hurts the most – our pockets.

[source:businessinsider]