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SUNNY Temp: 86 °F Wind: WNW at 9 mph Thursday, July 24, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend July 21, 2003 Since You Asked Honeybee numbers are down worldwide Not only has the hummingbird population dwindled to perhaps two in our area, but the honeybees have disappeared as well. We always had bees at our feeders. What happened? — Maxine and Albert S. You didn’t say where you live, Maxine and Albert. But the science geeks here at Since You Asked say it doesn’t really matter, because honeybee populations are crashing all over the world. We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the bees are the victims of a species that has spread all over the world and changed everything. This species is responsible for endless waves of development that destroy both the bees’ nesting grounds and their feeding grounds. It decimates them in the billions every year — along with other beneficial insects — with the pesticides that have become a routine part of agriculture in the last half-century. Advertisement Domestic honeybees have lost about a third of their hives. Wild honeybees are almost extinct in many regions of the world. As agribusiness has replaced the family farm, huge operators transport hives of "honeybees for hire" in a practice that has proven devastating to the bees. If the species responsible for all this doesn’t care about the bees, it should care for its own sake. One-third of all the food humans, the culprit, eat would not exist without pollinators visiting flowers. Researchers Steve Buchman and Gary Habhan have founded the Forgotten Pollinators Campaign to fight back. They’re trying to bring together farmers, beekeepers and pesticide users. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times