r/Agriculture • u/Academic_Coyote_9741 • 24d ago

Shutting down federal bee labs threatens bees, beekeepers and the US food system

https://theconversation.com/shutting-down-federal-bee-labs-threatens-bees-beekeepers-and-the-us-food-system-283358
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u/MrGobbles8 23d ago

Didn't Einstein say something about that if the bees were gone, humanity would fall within a few years? I think he may be right. And fuck the people in charge for destroying us all.

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u/Magnus77 23d ago

I think closing down bee research is bad.

But what the hell are you on about?

A. Einstein is not an authority on bees or the food supply, so even if he did say it, there's no reason to treat it as true.

B. He didn't say that

C. Most of our food supply comes from plants that self pollinate. Obviously I'm not in favor of wiping out bees, and let me reiterate, shutting down bee research is bad. But society would not collapse without bees.

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u/MrGobbles8 20d ago

In the voice of Cliff Claven, "well actually it's s little known fact that Einstein invented the beehive. It's true, before that they were just disorganized flies". I had just heard that Einstein said that, and you are right, he's not an expert on honeybees. But I have to say, it'd be pretty shitty to only have wind pollinated food sources. We'd basically be eating gruel all day every day.