Comments on: Bee Colony Collapse: Experts Race To Unravel Mystery; Beekeepers Fear A Deepening Crisis http://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2008/02/11/bee-colony-collapse-experts-race-to-unravel-the-mystery-as-beekeepers-fear-a-deepening-crisis/ Getting Green in the 'Hood Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:25:16 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Carrie http://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2008/02/11/bee-colony-collapse-experts-race-to-unravel-the-mystery-as-beekeepers-fear-a-deepening-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-368 Carrie Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:13:07 +0000 http://www.greenrightnow.com/2008/02/11/bee-colony-collapse-experts-race-to-unravel-the-mystery-as-beekeepers-fear-a-deepening-crisis/#comment-368 A German study may have identified a simple answer to the problem: The ongoing blight of genetically modified (GM) crops. When bees were released in a GM rapeseed crop, then fed the pollen to younger bees, scientists discovered the bacteria in the guts of the young ones mirrored the same genetic traits as ones found in the GM crop. Are we about to witness the first large-scale repercussions of what many feel is the dangerous, world-wide, and unregulated experiment on our health with genetically modified (GM) crops? The problems that will result due to a loss of honeybees are much greater than a simple shortage of honey. The inevitable agricultural and economic catastrophe that will result is a stark reminder of how complex, fragile and interdependent our biosystem really is. The loss of one plant, one animal, one species can cause potentially devastating repercussions that can wreak havoc on the entire system for years, decades, or worse even permanently. Genetic modification is, basically, playing fast and loose with this system, with no real idea what the results will be. It's taking parts out of a smoothly-functioning machine and replacing them with new, untried, and untested parts. Maybe they'll work better. Maybe not. But if they wreck the whole thing, there is no replacement. This is the only biosphere we have. Is it really worth the risk? A German study may have identified a simple answer to the problem: The ongoing blight of genetically modified (GM) crops. When bees were released in a GM rapeseed crop, then fed the pollen to younger bees, scientists discovered the bacteria in the guts of the young ones mirrored the same genetic traits as ones found in the GM crop.

Are we about to witness the first large-scale repercussions of what many feel is the dangerous, world-wide, and unregulated experiment on our health with genetically modified (GM) crops? The problems that will result due to a loss of honeybees are much greater than a simple shortage of honey.

The inevitable agricultural and economic catastrophe that will result is a stark reminder of how complex, fragile and interdependent our biosystem really is. The loss of one plant, one animal, one species can cause potentially devastating repercussions that can wreak havoc on the entire system for years, decades, or worse even permanently.

Genetic modification is, basically, playing fast and loose with this system, with no real idea what the results will be. It’s taking parts out of a smoothly-functioning machine and replacing them with new, untried, and untested parts. Maybe they’ll work better. Maybe not. But if they wreck the whole thing, there is no replacement. This is the only biosphere we have. Is it really worth the risk?

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