Bees need your help!
Many people are afraid of them, or rather their sting, but the humble bee brings us many benefits. Pollen to help with hayfever, delicious honey for our bread, and they are absolutely vital to the pollination of orchards and various food crops.
You may not have heard of Colony Collapse Disorder, a disease which has affected hives in the US, France, Germany and Italy, but it could see the complete wiping out of bee colonies in 10 years. It hasn’t arrived in the UK yet, but it is only a matter of time, and the British Beekeeping Association wants the Government to fund a research project into this potential disaster.
This would fall within the existing farming research budget at DEFRA, and the Government says there is no money for such research, although there is a contingency fund that they have no plans to dip into.
It would seem to make sense to research how to avoid this catastrophe before it hits us, so if you feel strongly then there is an online petition on the Downing Street website. Buzz of there and register your support for the bees at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BeeResearch
Bees needed for ice cream production
March 7, 2008 by AnnA
Filed under featured, Food & Nutrition
No I didn’t make it up. Apparently in order to produce ice cream you have to have a good healthy bee population. In the US, giant manufacturer Haagen-Dazs has warned that disappearing bee colonies may affect the ice cream supply. Apparently one-third of the U.S. food supply depends on pollination from bees and Haagen-Dazs said bees are responsible for a staggering 24 of its 60 flavours, including strawberry, toasted pecan and banana split. However, don’t panic if any of those are your favourites as Haagen-Dazs is donating $250,000 to two universities to fund research into the bee colony collapse disorder (CCD). Really, that is what they are calling it – there will be a lapel button or coloured ribbon to wear to show your solidarity with it next I am sure. They are also trying to raise consumer awareness of the problem by launching a new flavour called Vanilla Honey Bee, which I would have thought was a bit counterproductive, but they plan to use part of the sales from this flavour help the honeybees.
Altogether now, aaaah!
