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

~ (Author), Bill McKibben (Foreword)
Key Phrases: commercial pollinators, organic beekeepers, colony collapse disorder, Penn State, Eight America Dark, Seven The of the Bees (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“At last an authoritative account of the vanishing bees: one of the most puzzling environmental problems of recent times. . . . at once a great detective story and an object lesson of how to live in harmony with the living planet, our home.” --Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and Environment

 

"Who could imagine a spring without bees? One might say this is impossible, especially the kids. Michael Schacker's eye-opening story A Spring without Bees is a must-read for all of us who want to live in a sustainable and regenerating world for many generations to come." --Anthony Rodale, Chairman Emeritus, The Rodale Institute

"The loss of the bees is a four-fold tragedy: for the beekeepers, the growers, the consumers and of course for the bees themselves. Michael Schacker's fascinating and enlightening book is an important new look at the great mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder." --Dr. James Amrine, President of the Acarology Society of America, Medical Entomologist, West Virginia University

 

"In a debate clearly underpinned with political and commercial positioning and controversy over scientific fact and assumption, Michael Schacker’s multi-faceted review of the dispute to date, and its possible consequences, helps us clearly understand what is needed to reverse the bee decline threatening world food supply." --Dr. Kurt Johnson, ecologist and ethicist; co-author of Nabokov’s Blues:  The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius

 

"A Spring Without Bees is an object lesson in just how delicate the web of life is. It sounds an urgent call to action on behalf of one of our economy's tiniest laborers but also asks that we re-think the environmental consequences of the entire way we do business." --Jeff Ruch, Executive Director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)

 

“Michael Schacker offers another important rationale for organic farming methods as a way to protect the fruit and vegetable supply.”--Dr. Timothy J. LaSalle, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, The Rodale Institute

Product Description

Using CCD as a metaphor for our own human hive, Schacker asks: Are the bees trying to tell us something? Could this be the warning sign of a much larger crisis looming directly ahead? Might humankind suffer someday from 'Civilization Collapse Disorder'? And how must we change our human hive in order to ensure its survival? Like "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Silent Spring" before it, "A Spring without Bees" is a compelling cautionary tale and a clarion call for action. On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rachel Carson, the world faces a new environmental disaster, from a chemical similar to DDT.This time the culprit appears to be IMD, or imidacloprid, a relatively new but widely used insecticide in the United States. Many beekeepers and some researchers think IMD is the new prime suspect for the devastating syndrome known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, which has raised the annual die-off rate of honey bees to 30 percent of all the beehives in the United States. They say even trace amounts of IMD make bees lose their desire to feed, which would quickly lead to the collapse of their colony. After several days, there are few or no bees left in the hive. Since honey bees are essential to the production of fruit, nut, and vegetable crops around the world, their demise could spell catastrophe for our food supply and global economy.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1 edition (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599214326
• ISBN-13: 978-1599214320
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #225,325 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Account of the Disappearing Bees, June 15, 2008

By	Judy Shlasko (Venice, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ending Colony Collapse Disorder, July 15, 2008

By	Maureen Radl (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but a great resource, July 11, 2008

By	Kael Loftus (São Paolo, BRAZIL & San Francisco, USA) - See all my reviews

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-in-progress 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.