If you’re not familiar with the subject, the problem is honey bees. Well, the honey bees aren’t the problem, it’s the lack of honey bees that is the problem. Almost ten years ago, bee colonies began disappearing. Hives that were thriving with thousands of bees one week were completely empty just two or three weeks later. The bees were just gone. Not dead. Gone. There weren’t any dead bee bodies on the ground. They disappeared. This of course was cause for great concern for the beekeepers and demanded investigation. Without bees, there’s lack of pollination. Without pollination, there’s lack plant growth. Without plant growth, there’s lack of corn, apples, oranges, beans, tomatoes, berries, you get the picture. No bees means we’re going to be hungry. According to the American Beekeeping Federation, bee pollination contributes “over $14 billion to the value of U.S. crop production.” To me, that sounds like enough to make us want to figure out what’s going on.

Since the disappearing of the bees began, the phenomenon has been dubbed CCD or colony collapse disorder. Many studies have been conducted to break apart the honeycomb of complexity surrounding the problem. The experts may have found the cause which are toxic pesticides that have been applied to crop. This theory was validated when U.S. beekeepers traveled to Europe to discuss similar problems beekeepers had in countries like France and England. The Europeans have seen almost identical phenomenon like CCD with their bees. They, however, saw this behavior beginning back in the early ’90s. Research led to science which proved the use of pesticides on monoculture crop had a degrading effect on the growth of the bees. (Monoculture crop farming is another whole subject which scares me about our U.S. food system. Monoculture systems basically mean instead of farmers growing corn and tomatoes and carrots and beans, they just grow corn. And lots of it. So much that the corn has to be genetically “enhanced” to grow “properly.” This just isn’t right. It’s not how it’s meant to be. Plants grow naturally and healthily when interspersed with other species of plants. That’s how nature intended it. That’s how it works. By creating these monocultures, we’re trying to bend something that’s not natural to happen naturally. If it happened naturally, why did we have to change the genetics? And these monocultures are a big problem because the bees don’t sustain well when all they have to work with is corn pollen. So they go somewhere else. They disappear.) Sorry for the tangent there, back to just the bees… So basically, by using pesticides on the seeds of plants, the plants grow with the chemicals in them. And in the pollen the plants produce. A bee comes to the flower, takes the pollen back to the hive, makes the honey, feeds the infant bees, now the bees grow on food with toxic chemicals. These chemicals, the keepers believe, cause negative effects on the bee’s nervous systems and produce bees that just don’t quite function as they should. Think about it, if a human takes drugs, especially for a long period of time, there are most certainly negative effects.

In Europe, the beekeepers took to the streets with protests and eventually got the government to ban these harmful chemicals from being used on crops. About a year later, the bees bounced back and stopped disappearing. (Insert shocked face here.) In the U.S., this hasn’t quite worked. (Another shocked face.) The most disturbing part in the U.S. is how these pesticides are approved for use in the first place. The good ‘ole EPA approves the use of chemicals based on a risk assessment system. Basically, the gentlemen and ladies in the agency decide how big the risk is for a new chemical product to be used on our food. The company who makes the food provides research denoting the effects their chemical can have on wildlife, such as bees, and if the EPA doesn’t feel it’s that big a risk, hey, farmers can go to town and spray away. Hold on, let me say that again: the company who makes the chemicals provides the research. (Flashing red lights and sirens please.)

So needless to say, the beekeepers haven’t been able to make quite the same progress through the regulatory system as they have in Europe. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t try. We, of course, have the power to write our congressman and bring light to this issue. We can also help spread the word and educate ourselves on ways we can help. Experts in the documentary give some other suggestions. One experts quote was one of my favorite from the film. He said that we can change the way our food is produced, meaning in a natural and non-monoculture way, by “voting with your fork.” He notes that we can “vote three times a day” by choosing to eat organic and naturally grown foods. Think about it, if more people buy non-genetically enhanced products, the stores and markets will be forced to give the people what they want, which is healthy naturally grown produce. This is the real way we can change the system.

You may be wondering, “why is this web developer talking so much about bees?” And the answer would be that it’s not just about bees. When you think about the impact these amazing creatures have on our well being, it’s mind blowing. Think about how these little guys buzzing from flower to flower affects that apple you just ate. Or the orange you just peeled. Or the corn on the cob you like to smother with butter in the summer time. Think about the impact they have and how the total and utter ignorance of the bureaucratic farming system that has come to be in our world is killing what nature perfected. It’s just plain scary.

It may have taken a documentary to get me fired up about the bees, but I hope this post gets you thinking too. Take some time to watch the movie or read up on it. I think our health and the future health of our country depends in many ways on our honey making buddies. If we don’t do what we can, there may not be much left to buzz about.

Yep, I joined Twitter. I held out for a while, not sure I wanted to join in all the 140 character fun. But after just observing others’ posts for a few weeks, I found I understood why tweeters are tweeting everywhere everyday. Number one, it’s a great digest for information. Following some of my favorite magazines and news sources, you get links to the latest and greatest without having to search. The information just comes to you. And it’s fun! Following your family and friends lets you connect without the clutter and distraction.

If you can’t play it above, download it here, silly. Chrome/Safari | Firefox

We certainly live in a consumer’s world. And sure, many good things come from a healthy consumer culture, but when it turns into a time of more and more and more and more, we lose what the season is truly about. This year, I’ve been fortunate to learn through my home church about a special movement that hopes to change that “more is better” mentality. A movement to remind us what is really important during the holidays. The movement is called Advent Conspiracy.

The Advent Conspiracy movement began in 2006 by a few pastors who wanted to revamp how their communities thought and celebrated during the Christmas season. The result created a template for anyone to follow and re-think how they think about Christmas. Instead of buying more, shopping more, and stressing more, Advent Conspiracy encourages us to stop and give our time as a gift. “Spend less on gifts, and more on relationships.” The four pillars of the conspiracy are worship fully, spend less, give more, and love all. Each one of these ideas coincide with the four Sundays in the Advent season leading up to Christmas. These themes provide four distinct ways we can refocus our attention to the true reason for the season, the Christ Child, who was, is, and will always be the greatest gift of all.

The video below gives a great overview of Advent Conspiracy and explains one of the ways the movement encourages us to give more by supporting Living Water International, an organization who provides clean water systems to the poor in deprived areas of the world.

I’d encourage you to take a few moments, watch the video, and think about what it means and how those thoughts can change your approach to the shopping malls and madness this Christmas. And if you find yourself looking for a place to learn more, the First United Methodist Church of West Newton will be exploring the themes over the next few weeks or you can find more on the Advent Conspiracy website.

If you let them, those thoughts just might make this Christmas one of the most meaningful ever.