Queen of the Sun

Honey bees are a huge contribution to the world we live in today. They pollinate 40% of  

the plants that make up the food we eat. Without them we would not have the diverse plant life we do now. The bees are suffering from the Colony Collapse Disorder. All around the globe bees are disappearing and dying. The very creatures who help the world survive are declining and rapidly.

Several organizations and individuals want to help the honey bees. Some believe the disuse of pesticides and chemicals will help while others think the bees need to live a natural life. The queen bee is no longer taking the marriage flight and mating as she once would. Now virgin queen bees are sedated and the injected with sperm from a single worker bee rather than a dozen. The wondrous and elating experience of the marriage flight has been robbed of the bees. Another problem bees face are the burrow mites. Burrow mites are parasites that live on bees and drain them of life as time goes on. Scientists have attempted to find an antibiotic that can help the bees fight the burrow mites but the mites have become accustomed to the chemicals and seem to just get stronger with each new medicine introduced.

  As scientists scramble to find a solution to the problem many beekeepers have looked beyond the surface to what the bee are telling humans as a whole. Bees are imported and exported around the  world. Many swarms are mixes of bees from different continents. Organic beekeepers look upon this practice with disapproval. They believe the bees are telling us these ways of pollinating need to end. Until we can start being the caretakers we can be the bees will continue to disappear and with them, all life.