{"id":161298,"date":"2020-05-25T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=161298"},"modified":"2020-05-21T08:10:49","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T07:10:49","slug":"world-bee-day-poisons-mean-extinction-for-bees-and-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/05\/world-bee-day-poisons-mean-extinction-for-bees-and-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"World Bee Day: Poisons Mean Extinction for Bees and Humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN designated 20 May<\/em> as World Bee Day.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Photo icon by extradeda<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cProtecting bees is an ecological duty, pushing them to extinction is an ecological crime.
\nThe threat to bees is a threat to humanity.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

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\u201cIf the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>\u2015 Maurice Maeterlinck, The Life of the Bee<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

20 May 2020 –<\/em> In the last 50 years agrotoxins have spread and are pushing bees to extinction.<\/p>\n

The choices before humanity are clear, a Poison Free Future<\/a> to save Bees, Farmers, our Food and Humanity. Or continue to use poisons, threatening our common future by walking blindly to extinction through the arrogance that we can substitute bees with artificial intelligence and robots.<\/p>\n

\u201cRobotic bees could pollinate plants in case of insect apocalypse\u201d, ran a recent Guardian headline reporting how Dutch scientists, \u201cbelieve they will be able to create swarms of bee-like drones to pollinate plants when the real-life insects have died away\u201d.[2]<\/sup><\/a> [3]<\/sup><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe see a crisis in 15 years where we don\u2019t have enough insects in the world to actually do pollination and most of our vitamins and fruits are gone,\u201d said Eylam Ran, CEO of Edete Precision Technologies for Agriculture. His company says its artificial pollinator can augment the labours of \u2013 and eventually replace \u2013 bees. Its system mirrors the work of the honey bee, beginning with a mechanical harvest of pollen from flowers and ending with a targeted distribution using LIDAR sensors, the same technology used in some self-driving cars\u201d.[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

There is no substitute for the amazing biodiversity and gifts of bees.<\/p>\n

Every culture, every faith has seen the bees as teachers \u2013 of giving, of creating abundance, of creating the future of plants through pollination, and contributing to our food security and welfare.The next generation of seed is transformed into the next generation of seed only through the gift of the pollinator.<\/p>\n

Navdanya\u2019s research has shown that more than 30% of the food we eat is produced by bees and pollinators.<\/p>\n

Nature\u2019s economy is the gift economy. In every tradition the bee has been exemplified as a teacher in giving.<\/p>\n

Buddhist texts note that from a multitude of living things, bees and other pollinating animals take what they need to survive without harming the beauty and vitality of their source of sustenance. For humans, to act in the manner of bees is an enactment of compassionate and conscious living.<\/p>\n

St. John Chrysostom of the Catholic Church wrote, \u201cThe bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others.\u201d (12th Homily)<\/p>\n

In the Islamic tradition, the Quran\u2019s 16th chapter is titled \u2018The Bee\u2019.\u00a0 This chapter is known to be the revelation of God.<\/p>\n

In the Hindu tradition, there is a wonderful quote in the scripture Srimad Mahabhagavatam\u00a0which reads, \u201cLike a honey bee gathering honey from all type of flowers the wise men search everywhere for truth and see only good in all religions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let us together as diverse species and diverse cultures and through poison free organic food and farming, rejuvenate the biodiversity of our pollinators and restore their sacredness. We have the creative power to stop the sixth mass extinction and climate catastrophe without the need for these false technocratic solutions.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Maurice Maeterlinck is a Nobel Prize winner from Belgium https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/literature\/1911\/maeterlinck\/biographical\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/gmwatch.org\/en\/news\/latest-news\/18543<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/seedfreedom.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/The-Future-of-Our-Daily-Bread-_-LowRes-_-19-11-2018-REVISED.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> With bees on decline, mechanical pollination may be solution<\/a><\/p>\n

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Short Fact Sheet on Bees and Pollinators:<\/strong><\/h2>\n