According to Albert Einstein, when honey bees become extinct, humans would follow within four years. He argues that honey bees play a key role in the pollination of plants which end up supplying food to humans and other animals. Without the plant bees therefore, the plants will not be able to multiply resulting in food shortage and an end to human race.
Where would we be without bees? As far as important species go, they are top of the list. They are critical pollinators: they pollinate 70 of the around 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world. Honey bees are responsible for $30 billion a year in crops.
That’s only the start. We may lose all the plants that bees pollinate, all of the animals that eat those plants and so on up the food chain. Which means a world without bees could struggle to sustain the global human population of 7 billion. Our supermarkets would have half the amount of fruit and vegetables.
It gets worse. We are losing bees at an alarming rate. Possible reasons include the loss of flower meadows, the crab-like varroa mite that feasts on their blood, climate change, and use of pesticides.
How close are we to losing our bees? Earth Unplugged’s Maddie Moate explains all.
