Since the early 1990s of the year, beekeepers started to notice massive disappearance of worker bees, especially in the winter months. Since then, the situation only worsened — became extinct about 4 thousand types of bees, and in 2006 a phenomenon called “syndrome of destruction of colonies”. No one really knows for sure why bees are dying, but what will become of the world if they finally disappear?
Disappear honey. Product that mankind has gathered about 9 years. He serves us not only for food but also as cosmetic and medical treatment. Losing bees, we obviously lose one of the most useful and versatile products on the planet.
Many fruits and vegetables will cease to grow. People, far from farming, have little idea how many of the plants bees pollinate. According to a UN report, about 100 plants represent 90% of the world’s diversity of food, and 70 of them are pollinated by bees. If you believe the BBC, without bees of the grocery stores will evaporate at least half of the goods. Apples, avocados, grapes, peaches, watermelon… and worst of all — coffee.
People have to pollinate plants themselves. But only a few with significantly less efficient. This method is used in China, where desperately lacking bees. Method with a bucket of pollen and a brush may help to slightly compensate for the extinction of bees, but does not replace it.
Disappear dairy products. Have you ever wondered what they feed the dairy cows? Their diet consists not only of simple herbs. Cows need alfalfa is a plant that is pollinated only by bees. Sheep and goats, by the way, too. Without it, you can forget about milk and any derived products.
Disappear cotton. And with it over time, and all the clothes from it, which, to put it mildly, a lot. Yes, we learned how to do synthetic substitution, for example, polyester, but in a world without cotton the price will increase significantly.
Reduced the variety of food. Without bees humanity will lose part of the usual diet, although something, of course, remain. Pigs and chickens do not require feed made from pollinated plants. Wheat, soy, corn and rice grow without pollination. Tomatoes, potatoes and carrots require it quite a bit. But there is another problem…
The price of food skyrocket. This is not a mere assumption. In the winter of 2012 in Scotland, for example, destroying a third of all bee hives, which led to a sharp increase in the prices of scarce products. Better not to imagine how much will cost a Cup of coffee in the world without bees.
Malnutrition becomes a real problem. Man is a complex organism requiring a balanced food. And in many ways the vitamins we supply products pollinated by bees. A study in 2011 showed that the “bee” plants bring us calcium, fluoride, iron, vitamins A, C and E. Without them, our health deteriorates significantly.
The world economy could collapse. At least, the impact on it would be monstrous. It would threaten the cotton industry, milk and coffee, a food and healthcare company. The loss will amount to hundreds of billions of dollars across the Land, and will need a miracle to avoid disaster.
In many countries will starve. To switch to low pollination of plants like soy and rice, it takes a lot of time, which may not be in a number of developing countries. Such a problem would only arise if bees die out tomorrow, but a gradual extinction will bring a lot of troubles.