Comments on: Einstein’s Bees

By: Stephen Mikesell

Stephen Mikesell — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 22:01:34 +0000

It is not as bad as my previous post 4 years ago. This summer, after more than a decade of doing without the chemlawn of the previous owner, and with organic gardening and letting my suburban yard bio-diversify, so to speak (some might say go to seed), I observed a good number of bumble and other bees this summer. My daughter said I should have been documenting how my yard has been changing and the increasing diversity of plant and animal species, to say nothing of the change of character of soil and so forth.

By: Leon

Leon — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:21:59 +0000

I think Einstein was indeed referring to our vulnerable position and our dependent(ness?) of bees and other pollinators. Just think logically; insects were the first creatures to colonise the land about 360 million years ago. So basically all plants and ecosystems -thus dinosaurs, animals and humans- are depending and thriving on their work. If they are to disappear, well…
For the people that are interested in reasons regarding the global decrease in pollinator polulation at some places up to 85%, United Nations Environment Programme issued a report/global alarm 10th of march 2011 titled; ‘Bees under bombardment’ that can be found on http://www.unep.org

BEEware

By: Russ Hendrix

Russ Hendrix — Thu, 27 May 2010 08:49:09 +0000

I strongly believe in what Einstein has said regarding the importance of bees in the life of the people. Let us save the bees and bring back the beauty of the Earth.

By: john

john — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:57:07 +0000

i think the quote is right but i dont think he said it

By: Nikhil Mathew

Nikhil Mathew — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:14:34 +0000

Even if He said that, I dont think he is trying to tell the greatness of bees. He must have been trying to give an example about how every species is linked to one another by the nature and breaking a link would break the chain.

He must have been trying to say how vulnerable our existence is..

By: Beekeeping

Beekeeping — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:56:23 +0000

I strongly believe in what Einstein has said regarding the importance of bees in the life of the people. Let us save the bees and bring back the beauty of the Earth.

By: uksceptic

uksceptic — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:26:37 +0000

It might well be common knowledge that “bees polinate about 80% of human plant-based food sources.” But as is so often the case common knowledge is wrong.

The figure that is usually cited is that they pollinate 30% of crops. However even this is wrong! It’s probably true that 30% of crops are insect pollinated, but other groups such as hoverflies play a role in this, rather than just bees.

What IS true is the following;

In a recent study the “Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops” Klein et al 2007 it said “Honeybees, mainly Apis mellifera, remain the most economically valuable pollinators of crop monocultures worldwide, […] and yields of some fruit, seed and nut crops decrease by more than 90% without these pollinators”

Please note this does not mean that honeybees pollinate 90% of crops, this means that for some fruit, seed and nut their yield can decrease by more than 90% without honeybees as pollinators.

There is no doubt that bees are important but lets not get all over the top about it when the truth is shocking enough!

By: mjs

mjs — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:01:19 +0000

Wether Einstein said it or not its not far from the truth! Bees play a
vital role in the workings of nature .We are going to meddle and poision
ourselves out of existence .