Customer Reviews

A Spring without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Supply

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!

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.

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 also recommend the website for the documentary The Vanishing of the Bees.

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) 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.

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

If all the honey bees disappear what will you eat? I know what you won't eat. You won't eat fruits, vegetables, or nuts because they must be pollinated before they will produce fruit.

Bee keepers have always had problems with their bees being afflicted with parasites and disease, but in 1994 the bee keepers in France met a new problem. Except for the Queen and her helpers all the bees in a hive disappeared. In the past when something killed their bees they found the bodies just outside the hive, but in this case there were no bodies to examine. After deciding that the usual problems could not have caused what is now called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) they discovered that a new insecticide was being used on the sunflowers from which their bees were collecting nectar. The insecticide's active ingredient was Imidacloprid (IMD) which is a neurotoxin that is produced by Bayer. It is closely related to DDT which was the subject of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring. Despite extensive scientific research the government officials who were supposed to help the farmers were helping Bayer instead. Finally, after many battles including extensive scientific research and marching in the streets of Paris the farmers won and their bees started coming back in 2005.

Colony Collapse Disorder is a big problem in the United States, but the bee keepers have an added problem. The government is not interested in doing research. In fact, it would appear that they are not even interested in looking at the extensive research that was done in France.

Schacker writes in an easy-to-read style and has done a great deal of research so you have a clear picture of the problem. In the second half of the book he writes about various possible solutions to the problem including what the person on the street (or in the garden) can do.
He also includes appendices with even more information. You can go to PlanBeeCentral.com which has been set up by Schacker to get a taste of what is in the book plus ways to get involved.

I gave this book a 5 star review, because it accomplished giving a very good overview to the everyday person about the possible devastation caused by CCD. I have never raised bees and therefore, wouldn't have gotten nearly as much out of this book without the background information. He is thorough and it doesn't matter that he doesn't give the cause of CCD at the end. The point of this book is to alert the public to the fact that we don't HAVE a proven cause, but we have a few possible very strong contributors to CCD (varroa mites, IMD, pesticides, illness).

These obviously need a great amount of funding for research, so that we may find the cause and create a solution in time to save bees and agriculture as we know it. This won't happen without people creating awareness, expressing their concern to their respective senate/house representatives, and working towards these goals in their own communities. We can't predict how devastating CCD will or won't be, but it's potential to cause great damage should be enough reason alone to gain public support for following the precautionary principle (banning IMD, encouraging IPM & organic farming), while CCD is still being researched.

I don't think spraying neurotoxic chemicals on our food is a good idea to begin with anyways, regardless of its affect on bees. I like how these concerns about pesticides are be tied in with public health, as well. People often think about what levels of pesticides are safe for adults, children, and babies. The potential hazards to the unborn, tend to be less emphasized, even though they are the most vulnerable of all (and the future of our human race). I was delighted to see this connection made between the health of humans and the health of the environment in the book (even if it wasn't the main point of the book). No, bees aren't proven to be the "canary in the coal mine", but it should behoove us to consider how bioaccumulation of these same chemicals could affect us and our offspring, after watching how it may be causing devastating affects in other living organisms and particularly since not all of these chemicals undergo sufficient testing.

This is an excellent and well-researched review of the relatively new problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, which is currently decimating hives in this country (and the world). It is a book that needs to be read by as many people as possible. I originally obtained this book from the local library, but have been so impressed with it that I intend to buy one for my niece, who just graduated with a degree in environmental studies. This book not only delves into the ultimate cause of the disorder, but covers the inner corruption of the governmental and educational institutions who have the power to stop it. Without the bees, the world as we know it will end - even Albert Einstein knew this to be true. With the media and the government too strongly influenced by short-sighted business interests, individuals need to educate themselves and draw attention to this devastating problem before it is too late.

Michael Schacker's "A Spring Without Bees" is an alarmist book about an impending global food crisis caused by the - wait for it - collapse of beehives.

Ridiculous?

Unfortunately, no. Before reading this and other books on the bee crisis, I rather stupidly assumed that honeybees were good for honey, and that was it. In reality, honeybees are important pollinators of vegetables, fruits and nuts. And they are disappearing. During the 1990's, the varroa mite killed off a large portion of managed honeybees all around the world, and virtually all feral honeybees in the United States. For the past ten years, another mysterious disease has been running amuck among honeybees: Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). If the world's honeybee population shrinks even more, food prices might soar, leading to severe strains on an economy that isn't exactly booming.

Other pollinators are also threatened. The alkali bee pollinates alfafa, used as food for cattle. When the alkali bee population in the Western United States began shrinking, perhaps due to pesticides, they could be replaced by Canadian leafcutter bees. But now, these too are disappearing, due to parasites. Otherwise, habitat destruction or toxic chemicals seem to be the main reasons for sharp drops in pollinator populations: birds, bats, butterflies and bumblebees. One formerly abundant species of American bumblebee, Bombus occidentalis, is seriously threatened (Schacker believes it might already be extinct).

If pollinators start dying off all over the line, the result would indeed be what Rachel Carson called "a fruitless fall". Or even foodless. Colony Collapse Disorder might become Civilization Collapse Disorder, to use the author's words.

Still, Michael Schacker believes there are solutions. He claims that the cause of CCD have been positively identified: the insecticide IMD. A large part of the book is devoted to proving this point. (Other authors are less sure, and believe that the ultimate cause is still unknown. Naturally, the company producing IMD also denies responsibility.) According to Schacker, the honeybees came back in France when IMD was banned by the government. He also claims that organic beekeepers (who obviously don't use IMD) don't have CCD. One hole in the argument is that Africanized "killer bees" aren't struck be CCD either. Are they immune to insecticides?

If insecticides, pesticides and fungicides are the main culprits in the pollination crisis, the only solution seems to be organic beekeeping...and organic farming. The author believes that this is a viable option. Personally, I'm less sure. Can all agriculture the world over, or even in the United States, really go organic? Shacker claims that organic farming is profitable because "green" products sell for more, but how many people can afford to pay more for their food? To subsidize the organic food in order to make it cheaper would probably cost more than the war in Iraq or the projected overhaul of the health care system! I hope I'm wrong, but Schacker's optimism might be misplaced. Frankly, I tend to be more pessimistic than this author, who has the unusual ability to blend alarmism and optimism in the same breath.

As a side point, I noticed that Michael Schacker blames "the mechanistic model of the universe" for our present predicament. Instead he wants more ecological and presumably holistic thinking. This is unconvincing. The author himself applies "mechanistic" reductionism when he attempts to pinpoint the exact cause of CCD. Indeed, the "machine model" is a methodological device enabling scientists to understand the material causes of co-evolution, thus making it *easier* to get a clue about what is going on ecologically speaking. It's unclear how ecology would be enhanced by a vaguely "spiritual" method of research? Besides, you don't have to be a Western materialist to be a danger to the environment. The ancient Greeks or Phoenicians destroyed their forests, many Christian fundamentalists support the brownlash, etc.

Still, I believe "A Spring Without Bees" is worth reading, if you are interested in what is *really* going on in the world. Another book about the same subject (which doesn't blame IMD) is "A World Without Bees" by Benjamin and McCallum.

I've trudged through Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. Both were enjoyable but due to my lack of focused attention really took a long time. I mention these books as they are also about our food habit and the way we treat the environment. This book on the other hand I read quite quickly as it held my attention. It lays out the argument about IMD being the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder very well. Of course there may be other causes of CCD out there, but the way the author portrays the argument is well organized and informative. A good read for people who are interested in Honeybees, CCD and the way the media has portrayed CCD.

As a beekeeper, I believe Michael Shacker lays out an irrefutable case for a direct link between widespread neurotoxin-based pesticides (IMDs) and Colony Collapse Disorder, the sudden, massive die-off of honey bees that is now nearly global - except in France where IMDs were banned and the bees returned. He not only documents and assesses the scientific evidence, but also shows how agro-chem companies like Bayer CropScience and BASF have waged a propoganda war through biased scientific studies, media manipulation, and through the leveraging of compromised university Ag and entymology programs, whose research they fund.

Shacker explodes the myth of the "mystery" of CCD, and shows how media attention has diverted attention away from pesticide companies by focusing on red herrings such as cell phones and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus - even as researchers in those areas have themselves denied any causal link to CCD. Even the most skeptical reader of Shacker's book (and I was skeptical at the beginning) will find it hard to refute the culpability of Bayer and BASF in the ongoing extinction of apis mellifera.