Pollinating Bee (Photo by © P.Winberg)

Many people may be unaware that about 30% of all food crops grown in the U.S. are dependent on bee pollination and for a couple of years there have been alarming reports on the strange disappearance of huge numbers of bees.

The implications for American agriculture and the diets of American families are frightening enough, but making matters worse is the fact that no one has been able to pinpoint the cause or causes of the fate of the bees. Now the Washington Post has reported on a study conducted at the University of Virginia suggesting that “emissions from power plants and automobiles may play a part” in the demise of honeybees and bumblebees.

The research was undertaken by Environmental Sciences Professor Jose D. Fuentes at the University of Virginia -- working with graduate students Quinn S. McFrederick and James C. Kathilankal. The results of their work were published in the March issue of the journal Atmospheric Environment.

According to the article in the Post:

In the prevailing conditions before the 1800s, the researchers calculated that a flower's scent could travel between 3,280 feet and 4,000 feet, Fuentes said in an interview, but today, that scent might travel 650 feet to 1,000 feet in highly polluted areas such as the District of Columbia, Los Angeles or Houston.

Timothy H. Tear, a senior scientist at the advocacy group the Nature Conservancy, who studies the impact of air pollution on ecosystems, is quoted as saying, "We know that ozone levels continue to be high and go well beyond EPA standards for public health. What's been pretty consistent is the more we look at air pollution's impacts on natural resources, the more we find those impacts to be."

If you’d like to read the article in the Washington Post cited above go to: Air Pollution Impedes Bees' Ability to Find Flowers