Contact: Steven L. Sherman, 727-647-6467
MEDIA ADVISORY, April 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- Bees have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Learn how these missing bees relate to the use of cell phones, and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes in January 2007 and found half of his 100 million bees missing.
In 24 states throughout the United States, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation's most profitable.
Pennsylvania beekeeper Dave Hackenberg was the first beekeeper to report to bee researchers what's become known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).
The sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country.
Beekeepers have fought regional bee crises before, but this is the first national affliction.
A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts. "Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food," said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation.
The bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the off season to be normal.
It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.
They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.
The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously home-loving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), occurs when a hive's inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers. The vanished bees are never found, but thought to die singly, far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies, refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.
CCD has since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. And John Chapple, one of London's biggest bee-keepers, announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly abandoned.
The implications of the spread are alarming. Most of the world's crops depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left".
No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.
German research has long shown that bees' behavior changes near power lines. Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible cause.
Revelation 6:6
Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
Although the Bible plainly speaks of great famine in the last days, the prophetic words of Revelation 6:6 states that the olive and grape harvest will not be damaged.
In general, breeders have assumed that grapes were either completely self- fertilizing or were cross-pollinated by wind, so that in either case insects were considered of no value. The grape harvest will not be affected by the missing bee population.
Bees and other insects play a minor role in olive pollination; wind moves most of the pollen from tree to tree. Most olive varieties are self-fertile, but increased production often results from cross pollination. And neither will the olive harvest be affected by CCD.
Grape and olive oil production will only be minimally impacted by Colony Collapse Disorder while much of the fruit, vegetable and nut production will be severely reduced resulting in famine. These end time biblical prophecies are coming to pass within our own lifetimes demonstrating once again that the Word of God is true and to be trusted.
To learn more about end times, THE LAST DAYS CALENDAR: Understanding God's Appointed Times is a "must" read. To learn more about the Appointed Feasts of Israel and their relationaship to the return of Christ or to order this book on line, go to: http://lastdayscalendar.net. To order from the publisher by phone, call: 1 (877) 421-READ. To contact the author for a personal appearance, debate, or prophecy conference email: LDaysCal@aol.com or call (727) 647-6467.
