Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis - Softcover

*Starred Review* Whatever the disorder is called—colony collapse disorder (CCD), mad bee disease, stress accelerated decline (SAD), or bee autoimmune deficiency (BAD)—it has decimated honeybee colonies and imperiled the fertility of the earth’s flowering plants. Although Rachel Carson famously warned us about pesticides causing a “silent spring,” we now face a “fruitless fall.” Jacobsen explains why with compelling lucidity, carefully documented facts, and a deep respect for the sophisticated and diligent honeybee. After taking a “bee’s-eye view” of the complex and well-orchestrated workings of the hive, and reviewing the role this extraordinarily adaptable and productive European immigrant has played in North America’s phenomenal agricultural fecundity, he documents the many ways we’ve endangered the honeybee. We destroy wildflower habitats; truck bees cross-country to fertilize monocrops, especially California’s half-million acres of almond trees; dose them with neurotoxin-laced pesticides; and overuse antibiotics. The upshot of Jacobsen’s alarming exposé is that honeybees have been industrialized, just like cattle and poultry, and abused so severely hives are failing. But disaster can be averted if we revive our ancient, respectful, and mutually sustaining partnership with the miraculous honeybee. All it takes, he says, is our ability to work with nature, not against it. --Donna Seaman