The price of food might rise further if honeybee populations keep declining because it will reduce pollination, a beekeeping expert has warned.
Keith Tignor from the Virginia Department of Agriculture in Richmond said: “It’s been estimated that one-third of every bite we take at the dinner table is attributed to pollination by the honeybee. Without honeybees, the cost of food is going to continue to increase.”
Speaking to broadcaster CBN, the state apiarist also revealed that he expected the availability of human nutrition to shrink if the current developments continue.
Asked to give some insight into the state of things, Keith explained: “We have an annual loss of approximately 30 per cent. Each winter, we anticipate that we are going to lose one-third of our population.”
Keith said apiarists in some areas were experiencing lower figures while others are affected much worse. He warned: “Overall, this is a worldwide problem.”
Pesticides, habitat loss due to construction projects, parasites such as the Varroa mite and climate change are widely regarded as the driving factors of the decline of pollinator populations.
