For the past few years in Trinidad we've all heard about
deaths caused by bees which brought us to think of them as a danger to our livelihood.
But does that give us the right to judge our ecosystem and put practices (bee-killing
pesticides) in place to decline the bee population? Ask yourself this question:
What if there were no bees?
In Trinidad, bees are of major importance to us in 2 main
categories: 1) Pollination and 2) Our local produce-Honey. Without pollinators
such as bees, many food produce will decline and die off such as: cabbage, broccoli,
watermelon, carrots, paw paw, pigeon peas etc. which sustain our human diet. Also with this decline, will lead in a drop of
animal produce as well since most depend on plant material as a food source.
Another major factor is the production of honey. It was
stated that local honey production exceeded $7 million in sales before the
decline. The production of wax from beeswax has also contributed to our economy
by the construction of candles, hair food and creams locally made. Since 2005 there has been a decline in
beekeepers going from 720 to 350 which is leading to a devastating impact in
our country.
Despite we are in the trials of educating the public on
bees, a ban on bee-harming pesticides and the promotion of ecological farming
should be 2 other practices in place.
With this, I leave you with a quote: Einstein once said- “If
the bee disappeared of the surface of the globe then man would have only four
years of life left.”
