# Is the future of bees in the hands of the pesticide lobby?



## Solomon Parker (Dec 21, 2002)

We have an extraordinary opportunity to use our populist might. While most people are not beekeepers, most people care at least a little about bees. We all know how important bees are and if beekeepers have the fortitude to make it known the dangers we face due to chemicals, the populace will back us up.

The people are on the side of beekeepers. We are small business owners, we are local food producers, and we [or what we keep] are necessary to the future of food.


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## TWall (May 19, 2010)

Are insecticides the biggest threat to bee survival? Not all pesticides are bee toxic. 

While the general public supports bees and beekeeping in general, they also tend to eat on a daily basis. It sounds great to get rid of pesticides and the companies that make and market them. What would the impact of that be on food prices and availability? Would farmers who no longer had the use of pesticides being willing to let beekeepers who pushed for the ban on pesticides place hives on their property?

It sounds great to say we should ban all pesticides without thinking about the true impacts of that on our society.

Tom


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## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

As Tom pointed out, the issue is that the mass pests that have been spread across the world through food exports and imports would not only create an initial wave of global starvation, but would also multiply at such an astounding rate that the starvation of man and animal would only increase. I have read several estimations from researchers from many nations that have theorized that human existence would be decreased to only about 8% of our current population, and thousands of species of animals would become extinct as the insect world overruns the earth. To me it seems much more important to focus on restrictions, research, and regulations... this will drive up the costs of pesticides across the global market, and in turn lessen their use, as well as pushing growers to put more effort into developing more resistant plants and better soil management practices.

Its our nature to want immediate fixes for problems, but taking drastic measures is what got us here in the first place... taking the long-term approach is always more work, but usually yields much better results.

Hope this helps.


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