With all of the issues that face Americans, with all of the continuing argument over how we can best invest our resources, there are down-to-earth issues that are failing to get the attention they deserve.
One is the health of the nation’s bee population.
That is right — bees.
And in California there is currently a struggle on to see how to pay to try to protect the bee and the threatened beekeepers.
As the Associated Press reported: “The proposal to set up a California Apiary Research Commission with the power to tax comes as bees nationwide are perishing in great numbers from colony collapse disorder and other health problems. California is the nation’s main producer of fruits and vegetables, and bees are essential pollinators of about a third of the United States’ food supply.
“But many beekeepers say they will vote against forming the commission in a summer referendum because they don’t want to be forced to pay fees when their industry continues to suffer big losses. The proposal would allow the commission to tax beekeepers doing business in California with more than 50 colonies at a rate of up to $1 per hive.”
What’s the big deal?
Just this: “bees are essential pollinators of about a third of the United States’ food supply.”
If we think we have a problem when we keep turning to foreign nations for financing or oil, imagine if we were no longer able to feed ourselves.
There was a time when European nations carefully guarded their formulas for producing gun powder, the time could be close when nations will carefully guard the answer to keeping bees active in their food production.
It’s just one problem, but in a national arena where the lack of leadership means only the noisy issues get attention, it’s one that could sting us in the end if we don’t pay attention now.
— Chuck Smith