Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Where have all the flowers gone?

It seems wild honeybees are disappearing and they are dying off somewhere away from their hives. Honeybees are important to crops. It is said one out of three things we eat is pollinated by honeybees, the only crops pollinated by the wind being wheat and corn.

The disappearance of the bees has been going on for about two years now. It was first thought that a mite from Southeast Asia was killing them off, but now no one is sure. Flowers have been disappearing with the honeybees as well.

But it is not only the honeybees; other pollinator flies are lessening in number also. Moreover, this is not just one country's problem; it seems to be a worldwide thing, although the problem is mostly noted in US and Europe.

Beekeepers are stumped. They are losing armies and armies of bees without any bee bodies around. The losses are in billions.

This malady now has an acronym and a name: CCD or the Colony Collapse Disorder. The disappearance of the bees has encouraged several theories, most of them not totally explainable.

One of the plausable theories is by the Russian scientists who say, ""Bursts of magnetic fields induce jumps of misdirection in bees by a mechanism of magnetic resonance." Yet, it is also suggested that the Russians are using their mind-control techniques on the bees to weaken the western world. If they were so great with mind control, wouldn't they use it on the Chechens first?

While this thing is sounding more and more like Dean Koontz novel to me, I would hate to see the flowers gone. Imagine a world without flowers, although we are not there yet.

On the other hand, let the scientists worry about this Colony Collapse Disorder for the time being, but to writers this event may be a boon. Story weavers among us, just imagine what a great storyline can be constructed from this scientific fact, although it would need quite a bit of research.

Anyone up for it?