July 16, 2008
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| UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, filmed by NBC photographer Houston Hall for The Today Show. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS—UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey appeared on NBC’s Today Show on July 12 in a feature on the declining bee population. (At right: NBC photographer Houston Hall films her at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, west of the UC Davis main campus.)
The piece, “Disappearing Bees Sting Food Prices,” also included interviews by Edward Knipling of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Katty Pien of Haagen-Dazs, and some of the nation’s beekeepers. Haagen-Dazs recently gifted UC Davis with $100,000 for bee research. In February Haagen-Dazs launched a Web site, focusing on the importance of honey bees and how to save them.
The nation’s beekeepers, in survey commissioned by the Apiary Inspectors of America, reported losing 36.1 percent of their bees since last year, up from 32 percent the previous year. About 29 percent of the loss since last year was attributed to the phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD), in which bees mysteriously abandon their hives.
Bees pollinate about one-third of the food we eat, Cobey said. This includes fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
The Today Show interview sprang from a hearing held June 26 by the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture to review the status of pollinator health, including CCD. Cong. Dennis Cardoza of California’s 18th District, chair of the subcommittee, said that the “importance of bees and other pollinators cannot be underestimated. Nearly 130 different crops—totaling over $15 billion in annual farm gate value—depend on pollination to grow.”
Testimony revealed that the lack of pollinators could further increase food prices. Said Cardoza: “USDA desperately needs to better coordinate their research and response to this ongoing crisis, and more clearly define their needs so that Congress can adequately respond.”
Those interested in making donations to UC Davis to help save the honey bees can do so online, UC Davis Department of Entomology.
Read statements at the congressional hearing
Click on June 26, 2008 entries
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
