Thursday, July 20, 2017

We Gotta Save The Bees...!

We all know that bees do a wonderful service to all of us by helping to pollinate a lot of our food crops.

Here is a little fact that should really concern many of us. One thing that the bees help to pollinate in a major way...is coffee! That's right, my friends, COFFEE !

The Coffee Industry



In addition to various fruits and vegetables, bees are also the primary pollinators for coffee. So without bees, our world’s coffee supply would dwindle, and the industry would lose its profitability. At first thought, this seems pretty inconsequential; caffeine is not a human “need,” and the end of coffee wouldn’t mean famine. But a surprising amount of our world’s industry lies on coffee production and sales.

In 2016 alone, Starbucks Coffee raked in $21.3 billion in gross sales. And as of May 2017, the chain had 245,000 employees. Coffee is also a valuable product in Latin America, specifically Guatemala, where a large portion of the population works in the coffee industry. Without bees, this multinational coffee empire would collapse, leaving hundreds of thousands of people out of work across the world.

I had no idea that bees could have that much effect on our morning brew. So if we lose the bees, not only would we more than likely go hungry, but we wouldn't be able to enjoy our morning java either! BUMMER!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. All bees are more than welcome !

7 comments:

linda m said...

Makes me want to be a beekeeper and rent out my bees. No morning coffee would be a real bummer for me - need that jolt to jump start my body. A loss of bees would be a real world wide catastrophe.

Momlady said...

Except for yellow jackets I leave bees alone. I have mason bees that come back every year and love to hear them buzzing under my porch. They have their "burrows" in the ground. I've bought a couple of houses for them so we'll see next year if they move in.

JO said...

I knew the bee's were in trouble and I know that foods and flowers need the bee's for pollinating but had never thought about our beloved coffee.

Patio it is not a bad morning cloudy here and of course humid but not to bad.

HermitJim said...

Hey Linda...
Cool, if the bees would co-operate.
Thanks for stopping by today!


Hey Momlady...
Let me know if they decide to move in. Better neighbors than some, I reckon!
Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Jo...
Yeah, me either. Pretty scary stuff, if you ask me.
Thanks, sweetie, for dropping by today!

IanH said...

What do you mean. Saying that coffee is not a need. I need my coffee! Besides it is now shown that drinking 3 cups a day extends your life by over 3 years!

Anonymous said...

It took me years to learn to drink coffee. I recently had to give it up and it really hurt. I am back on the stuff. I will do my share to protect the bees. Love you, Bubba.

Sixbears said...

The situation has moved from serious to pants on fire screaming panic.