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 Ending Colony Collapse Disorder July 16, 2008
Ending Colony Collapse Disorder
Following in the footsteps of Rachel Carson, Michael Schacker again sounds the alarm that the normal functioning of the natural world is still being disrupted by man-made substances. In A SPRING WITHOUT BEES: HOW COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER HAS ENDANGERED OUR FOOD SUPPLY, he carefully investigates the plight of the European honeybees, many of which have died or been unable to find their way back to their hives. In the process of solving this disturbing mystery, Schacker examines the numerous theories that have been proposed as causes of CCD and reveals a new one--which is most probable, partly because it is supported by what has been known for decades about how products used to control harmful insects can also destroy helpful ones.
Schacker presents convincing arguments, including the experience of French beekeepers which point in the direction of neurotoxins that have changed certain pesticide formulas in the past five years. These poisons build up with repeated applications and remain in the soil for years. When the honeybee collects the flower nectar, it can "intoxicate" the bees to the point where they can no longer find their way home, causing the mysterious disappearance of whole hives. Partial exposure or eating poisoned winter stores of honey can weaken or kill the bees as well. The pervasive use of these pesticides, not just for agriculture but for lawns, golf courses, and parks makes it impossible for the honeybee to avid contamination. He further explains that human exposure to these pesticides is also a health risk, especially for children who play on these contaminated lawns.
But Schacker also offers hope for the honeybee, for humankind, and for the planet if we begin to act quickly. He presents strong arguments for avoiding the mechanistic approach of attempting to engineer nature for our own purposes, since that usually backfires into worse problems than what we intended to prevent. Instead, he advocates and describes numerous organic methods which everyone, including farmers, homeowners, golf course managers, and beekeepers, etc. can use to restore the natural balance to the planet and save the honeybee. This book is a call to action, backed up by extensive scientific data that needs to be heard by everyone one who cares about the future. This is a must-read that definitely deserves five stars!
Save the Bees from Colony Collapse Disorder July 15, 2008
Michael Shacker's book is a wake-up call to the world. It is by far the best told, best researched and most passionate of the published accounts about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), laying out in vivid detail CCD's devastating, life-threatening effects on bees and on the human food supply. Bees are indispensible to the natural reproduction (pollenizing) of crucial plants we all rely on for food.
One reviewer here asserts this book contains woo-woo science (it doesn't; everything is documented). The same reviewer then suggests we might genetically engineer bees that can tolerate the neuro-toxin that France and Germany have banned. Excuse me? That's worse than woo woo. It's irresponsible. Genetically engineer bees to withstand neurotoxin so chemical companies can continue to put it in the ecosystemime ? This reviewer clearly does not get it. Five more years of tests and proofs before suspending the use of the suspect substance and there will be no hive populations left to resuscitate.
European bans on the neurotoxins in question are based on simple tests that vested lobbies in the US have managed to avoid so far. Would anyone suggest we engineer songbirds to withstand DDT and bring DDT back into mainstream farming? How about breeding people to tolerate eating sewage and sate their hunger at land fills? An equally nutty idea.
Schacker has clearly done his research and answers each speculation as to cause with the facts on the ground. By citing conclusions reached by scientists in Europe, Schacker issues a call to the United States to look seriously at these causes and perform the same tests.
If you're looking to inform yourself thoroughly on this agricultural disaster in the making, you're first stop, and your best, is here, at "A Spring Without Bees."
People can also help spread the word about CCD at Schacker's website: http://www.planbeecentral.com
 Not perfect, but a great resource July 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Schacker's book is an excellent resource for the well-educated person who wants a broad and detailed review of Colony Collapse Disorder. It is not, however, the final word on the cause: Schacker takes one theory -- that CCD is caused by the pesticide imidacloprid (IMD) -- and, while making a convincing case, fails to account for some reported CCD die-offs that are *not* consistent with the pesticide theory. The work also wanders into topics that are arguably not related to CCD, as mentioned in other reviews. That said, the book is timely and well-researched, and presents an array of suggested responses to CCD that regular people can implement, from planting bee-friendly gardens, to keeping bees, to challenging government inaction/incompetence.
I bought this book as a new hardback because I feel the need to be as well educated as possible about CCD. I am one of the organizers of the 2008 San Francisco Bee-In on September 21st at the Randall Museum, which will serve both as a fundraiser for the documentary-in-progress The Vanishing of the Bees ([...]) as well as a public education event.
Schacker reviews some of the CCD theories that have made cameos in the news media over the last two years, including a thorough and amusing dismissal of the "cell phones are killing the bees!" story. After rejecting many theories, he presents the story of CCD in France (a story we've heard relatively little about in the U.S.) and explains why French beekeepers came to suspect the pesticide IMD. It's a compelling narrative, and there is data in the U.S. that supports it. However, one of our country's top bee researchers, Dr. Eric Mussen of UC Davis, recently recounted in his newsletter (repeated by apiarist Kim Flottum in his "Catch the Buzz" newsletter, available via [...]) that the pattern of CCD's spread looks more like a disease than pesticide misuse.
My point is, it's too early in the crisis to settle on one hypothesis. In the meantime, yes: let's invoke the "Precautionary Principle" and suspend IMD use. And yes, let's include the French research; to not do so would be anti-scientific and arguably criminal. But let's continue to do the science. More research is required, and the public can help by supporting funding for a broad research effort on CCD, both through private donation and pressure on government funding sources. (Funding earmarked for CCD by the USDA in early 2007 is only becoming available this August, almost a year and a half later; the severity of the crisis demands more timely and responsive leadership -- anything less is incompetence.)
I don't agree with everything Schacker argues in this book, but I do relate to the sentiments he expresses in Chapter Nine, "Civilization Collapse Disorder" (which includes the sub-chapter heading "The Public Has To Wake Up"). I am glad to see this book on the shelves: it's a thought-provoking and helpful -- if not quite perfect -- resource.
 Good start, nice finish, but a BIG speed bump or two in the middle June 17, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Good progressive citizens know that Big Ag, specifically Big Agrichemical, has its hooks deeply imbedded into modern American farming.
Michael Schacker does a very good job of detailing how one part of these giant hooks is the likely cause for colony collapse disorder, the problem that has become a major headache to commercial beekeepers in the U.S. and, because of that, a threat to the majority of America's fruit, nut and vegetable crops, as well as the dairy industry.
In some cases, if not actually smoking guns, Schacker has at least the post-firing whiff of gunpowder lingering around the corporate farm crime scene. Or the Washington lobbyist crime scene.
In other places, though he has even less in the way of proof, there's a lot of circumstantial skepticism he raises. Namely, in this case, that's the corporate buying, er, "endowing," of university professorships. It's an ugly practice that many college presidents in today's day and age, considering themselves as CEOs of a sort, would actually like to increase.
No, Schacker can't PROVE that Bayer is buying off Penn State, for example, but it looks suspicious.
The end of the book has him detailing various ways in which we can make our own little corners of America more bee-friendly, from bee gardens through organic lawn maintenance and more.
But, as I said, this book has a speed bump or two.
The biggest?
A straw man called "mechanistic science." Not only does he build up this straw man, he approvingly references alleged physicist and definite New Age woo-hooer Fritjof Capra.
Sorry, Mr. Schacker, but you can't expect me to follow your skeptical line on Big Agrichem buying off U.S. universities and then expect me to blindly swallow such unskeptical writing, even if just on a couple of pages.
That's because this connects to the second speed bump.
For Schacker, the solution to many of the problems is black-and-white, all-or-nothing, specifically that we've got to go totally organic, as much as possible, as soon as possible. He dismisses Integrated Pest Management (which isn't always perfect, no) as only a half-solution. And, he overlooks facts like low-till and no-till farming are done by conventional as well as organic farmers.
Going back to "mechanistic science," he doesn't look at the possibility of genetically engineering honeybees to increase their neurotoxicity resistance, either. Or at doing scientifically-controlled crossbreeding of them with wild North American pollinator bees.
Finally, he may be a bit apocalyptic. I realize he's sounding an alarm; nonetheless, I doubt modern agriculture will collapse, even if CCD spreads further. It may limp along and struggle for a while; commercial beekeeping may go further and collapse itself, for a conjoined variety of reasons. But I highly doubt American agriculture itself will collapse.
I was originally going to four-star this, but in writing out this review, and mindful that it may get five-starred by all other reviewers, I can't.
Fascinating Account of the Disappearing Bees June 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Really riveting, easy to understand account of the mystery of the disappearing bees. The book begins with a fascinating description of the sophisticated bee behavior and hive society. It reminded me of the first time I became educated on ant colonies, marvelling at their intricate, organized societies. The details are right down to the varying roles of each bee (nurse bees, cleaning squads, honey-processors, foragers, drones, etc.). The book logically takes the reader through every theory on CCD (Colony collapse disorder) proposed thus far, along with scientfic references and statistics on all documented research. It challenges the association between university research and the corporations that finance that research, questions the FDA rules on chemical pesticide approvals, offers suggestions for how each individual can assist in solving CCD, and repeatedly gives kudos to Rachel Carson's 1962 revelations in her ground-breaking book. This is an easy read, very appealing, contemporary, up-to-date account of this controversial, potentially civilization-devasting issue. Especially relevant given today's global economic woes in terms of oil, crop production, and world hunger.
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