Something is not right in the world of honey bees

Some researchers first noticed that bees were dying off in Japan and as a result many of the cherry blossom trees there were also showing a "fading off".  Some say only one species of the bees, the European honey bee, is affected.  Is it because of the pesticides or something else?  Is this another kind of an environmental funding scheme or for real?  And, if really happening,  what would the implications mean  to our food supply?

The first vid is from 2007 .... so this problem of  bees dying off  in their millions has been going on for a while.  It now looks like Ontario's beekeepers have also been hard hit.

Beekeeper John Van Blyderveen  is troubled by the silence in his laneway in Ontario's Oxford County.

The familiar summertime buzz of bees hovering over the lush cherry blossom trees is noticeably absent. The flowers sit untouched.

"This is extremely unusual for this being a bee farm, there are no bees here," Van Blyderveen says. "This is really sad."

This increasingly familiar scene, which is playing out across North America and Europe, worries beekeepers, farmers and scientists who have been tracking the collapse of honeybee colonies over the past decade.
In the process, two main camps have emerged, vigorously debating the root causes of the decline.


Some scientists and insecticide companies suggest the bees are being overrun by an infestation of mites, while other observers suggest seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticide – or "neonics" – are to blame.

On July 9, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced she will convene a working group – made up of a range of experts – to study this issue and provide recommendations.

It's a puzzle with huge implications. Bees and other pollinators are responsible for ensuring most fruit and vegetable crops around the world mature into food.

Most sources suggest about one-third of the food we eat is reliant on pollinators, and Bloomberg Business Week estimates bee pollination affects "$200 billion worth of crops annually."