The bees are still dying: prepare now – FOR FAMINE!

And we had better care, because fully 30 percent of our food comes from plants which must be pollinated – and much of that is done by honeybees! Even alfalfa for dairy cows needs honeybees for pollination. Not just fruits and vegetables, but milk, cheese and beef will be affected by the decline in the number of bees.

Since the fall of 2006, bees around the world have been experiencing a catastrophic die-off called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Unless it stops – and quickly – our entire way of life may change forever.

Respected authorities are now sounding an alarm. According to an article in the London Times,

Officials at the US Department of Agriculture say that unless the species manages to shake off the shadow of Colony Collapse Disorder over the coming months, the public could find itself "stuck with grains and water" as fruit orchards and vegetable fields go unpollinated.

"This is the biggest general threat to our food supply," Kevin Hackett, leader of the Department of Agriculture's bee and pollination programme, said. "The question is whether the bees can weather this perfect storm…We'll know probably by the end of the summer."

Concerned by the implications…a House of Representatives subcommittee has held hearings and the office of the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, has been briefed.

"If the bees do not recover, or their numbers don't grow and they are in a weakened state, we could see a worst-case scenario," Jeff Pettis, the top bee scientist at the USDA, said."

James Doan, a beekeeper in New York, moves his bees around the country according to demand from farmers, who rent the hives so that crops such as watermelons, apples, strawberries, broccoli, almonds and cucumbers can be pollinated.

He lost 3,300 colonies – about 100 million bees, worth $200,000 – to CCD between September and March. "If we can't get this problem under control in the next three or four months…I can't continue. Our bankers will tell us, 'Sorry, that's it,'" he said.

With the problem now affecting 27 states, he said: "I'm getting calls by the hour from growers who can't find bees. And no honeybees equals no fruit and veg" (London Times, May 7, 2007).

Top government agencies and health experts have already been warning that we should put back a few weeks supply of canned food and water just in case of a terrorist attack, a flu pandemic, or a natural disaster (of biblical proportions?) such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Now the bee die-off looms as "the biggest general threat to our food supply!"

Jesus Christ warned, "And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven…Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near" (Luke 21:11, 28).

Sick, malnourished, or starving individuals are not in shape to keep what goods and services we may have left flowing in a timely fashion. With the additional loss of so much of our food supply now possible from the shortage of honeybee – not to mention emerging crop diseases and pandemic flu – now is the time to make a few prudent preparations. Don't panic, but picking up an extra can or two of food when we go grocery shopping and building up a small reserve is certainly in order.

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