Curries, pizzas and baked beans to vanish if bees become extinct - major warning
FOOD in the UK will massively deteriorate if bees become extinct, experts claim.
Pollination from bees is crucial to the eco-system, but worryingly the bee population is rapidly declining due to habitat loss, pollution and the use of pesticides. Bee expert and University of Sussex professor Dave Goulson has revealed just what the devastating impact will be if bees disappear for good.
He warns that thousands of wild plant species and 75 percent of the crops we grow would deteriorate because bees are the dominant pollinator in most terrestrial ecosystems.
As a result, the amount of fruit and vegetables available in supermarkets would be hugely reduced and many flower varieties will cease to exist.
Among the foods affected will be most curries, pasta sauces, pizza toppings, baked beans and fruits including apples, cherries and melons.
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Professor Goulson is now calling on the public to help save the bees. He said: “There are at least 6,000 different types of pollinating insect in the UK alone.
“They are remarkably clever and can learn the most rewarding flowers, memorise landmarks, and navigate to and from their nest over miles of countryside. And the phrase ‘busy bee’ is not without merit - a single bee can pollinate 4,000 flowers in a day.”
Popular methods include planting bee friendly plants and flowers like lavender and crocus, letting your lawn grow for longer than normal and not using pesticides.
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Professor Goulson has also teamed-up with Fairtrade tea company Clipper Teas to highlight the threat posed by pesticides to bee numbers.
This follows research of 2,000 adults, also commissioned by Clipper Teas, which found a quarter don’t realise how toxic pesticides are.
Professor Goulson said: “Many pesticides are directly toxic to bees – not just insecticides, but also fungicides and herbicides. And worryingly honey stores in bee nests often contain cocktails of 10 or more pesticides.
“There is abundant evidence that these pesticides kill bees or have ‘sublethal’ effects such as impaired learning, low resistance to disease, and reduced fertility. Furthermore, herbicides also get rid of weeds - otherwise known as wildflowers - so less food for bees.”
WHAT WOULD VANISH IF BEES BECAME EXTINCT?
Christmas cake
Baked beans
Spicy food
Pasta sauces
Pizza toppings
Many curries
Strawberry jam (and most fruit jams)
Ribena
Kiwi fruit
Turnips
Melons
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Squashes
Pumpkins
Courgettes
Strawberries
Raspberries
Mangoes
Apples
Avocados
Apricots
Cherries
Peaches
Plums
Pears
Blackcurrants
Blueberries
Broad beans
Runner beans